


Dark Summons

by UmbraeCalamitas



Series: Summoned Souls [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Adventure, Aibou, Angst, Bullying, Character Death, Duality, Fantasy, Fear, Friendship, Hostage Situations, Hurt/Comfort, Illness, Joey's accent, Kidnapping, M/M, Precognition, Psychic Abilities, Romance, Tea has a cat, Tea is not a damsel in distress, Torture, Tristan plays the guitar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-25
Updated: 2014-10-22
Packaged: 2018-01-20 17:34:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 41,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1519274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UmbraeCalamitas/pseuds/UmbraeCalamitas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After trying to comfort a dangerously sick Yugi, Yami wakes up in a strange world and meets up with the others. Together, they must rescue Yugi. But what happens when the enemy is a friend?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

**Dark Summons**

**I**

* * *

 

Tall and regal, with tan flesh and fierce crimson and violet eyes, he was a wild head of black and purple hair, and bangs that danced around his head, as though he had tamed the lightning itself with the powers he wielded. He was the Pharaoh, Atemu, a 3000 year old spirit resurrected to dwell once again in the land of the living.

And he was crying.

He wasn't openly crying. Atemu, who was referred to as Yami by those closest to him, didn't think that he had openly cried since his youth, years before his inauguration as Pharaoh of Egypt. Still, however, he could not ignore the tears blurring his vision, the burning behind his eyes, and the wetness on his cheeks.

"Aibou…" he whispered softly.

The boy on whom Yami's mind was focused was currently lying before him, curled up into a tight ball beneath a mass of blankets. His wild hair matched Yami's, but his taming of the storms seemed not to match the Pharaoh's, for he lacked the extra golden bangs that ricocheted through the rest of his hair. At the moment, the boy's face was as white as a sheet, but his cheeks were flushed in fever. His beautiful violet eyes were closed and he shivered weakly in sleep.

Yugi Moto, rightful possessor of the Millennium Puzzle and wielder of a power even he was unaware of, whimpered lightly in a mixture of loneliness and pain.

Yami, who had been standing next to Yugi's bed, feeling useless as his soul raged with terror, moved forward immediately, placing a hand gently upon the boy's quaking shoulder. Yugi's breathing evened out almost immediately, and even the shivering seemed to lessen, as a calmness overcame him. He mumbled something softly under his breath, but it was too low for Yami to hear, and his mind was elsewhere.

"Yugi," he whispered softly. "Aibou."

Yami was frightened. The fear within him had amassed into a giant spiked ball and was currently being thrown viciously from one side of his soul to the next. Yami had seen this sickness before. It was an illness that stole the lives of the innocent. It had taken many of Yami's loved ones in the past.

 _Not now,_ he thought desperately. _Please… not Yugi, too…_

Yami shivered involuntarily, but the cold from which he suffered was an icy kiss to the soul. He was cold on the inside, and no amount of blankets could purge him of such a frozen touch.

"Y-Yami…"

Yami turned at the sound of his name. Yugi was still asleep, curling up like a cat. His face, however, was contorted into a mask of terror and pain. He was shivering violently and whimpering. Every few moments, Yami could hear the child utter his name with weak desperation, as though trying to fight off a demon that he could no battle alone.

"Yami… please… Yami…"

"Aibou," Yami whispered.

He had been reluctant to move closer to his partner. It was not that he feared that Yugi's illness would pass to him (in fact, he would choose to suffer its wrath, so long as it promised that he remained with his Hikari), but that he didn't know how the young boy would react to his presence.

Yami's "body" was a spirit form. While the wind would blow his hair and a couch would sink beneath his added weight, Yami was a ghost, in almost every sense of the word. He could touch his Aibou, for they shared a vessel and Yami's soul-prison, the Millennium Puzzle. Yami could not, however, touch others. He actually usually avoided physical contact with his Aibou, as well, for fear that he might frighten the child away. He didn't think he could bear such a thing.

Now, however… the boy was calling out to him, and Yami dared not ignore his pleas.

Slowly, hesitantly, Yami moved closer to his Aibou and crawled onto the bed, careful not to jostle the child awake. Due to being a spirit, Yami weighed considerably less than he would have had his body been completely physical, and so he didn't need to worry too much.

Keeping his crimson eyes focused on his Hikari, Yami quietly lay down next to the child. Reaching a slender hand up, he tenderly stroked the side of Yugi's face. The boy gave a shivering breath in surprise, and then calmed.

Smiling softly, Yami curled up a little himself and closed his eyes, cherishing the feeling of his Hikari lying so close to him. Something seemed to call to him, and his subconscious answered with a weak murmur, before pulling Yami down into the depths of slumber, burying him deep within a darkness beyond all shadows that he had ever known…


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joey, Tea, and Tristan all wake up in this strange world in less than ideal circumstances.

**Dark Summons**

**II**

* * *

 

Yami awoke to warmth and sunshine. He awoke to the sound of birds and the caress of something soft beneath his form.

And he awoke to the realization that his Aibou was nowhere in sight.

Yami sat up abruptly, taking in his surroundings with a quick flash of his crimson eyes. He was lying on sand that appeared nearly as white as the snow he had seen fall on Domino in winter, the sun beating down upon his form. Peering straight ahead, he could see a mass of trees sprouting, and birds flocked above the beaches and through the branches of the forest, singing the songs that had awakened him.

But where was Yugi?

Rising swiftly to his feet, Yami was burdened suddenly with a weight he had not expected. His shoulders slouched, his vision blurring momentarily, and he staggered, catching himself on legs that shook with the weight of his body.

True weight.

A body.

Yami's crimson eyes widened in surprise and he looked down at the ground. There was a deep impression in the sand where he had been laying; the kind of impression only a physical force could make upon the world.

Yami swallowed hard, his mouth suddenly very dry.

He was… he was…

Unwilling to believe it, to jump to conclusions, Yami reached up and placed fingers tightly against his neck.

He received something he had never expected.

A pulse.

A true pulse.

"I'm… I'm _alive_?" he whispered, his voice staggering drunkenly from his mouth in a mixture of utter shock and mild horror. "H- _how_?"

Then, his world abruptly jumped, spinning to face a problem on the opposite spectrum; a problem that somehow still connected adamantly to this new discovery.

Where was Yugi?

Yami's eyes were studying the sand, seeking answers in the endless dancing grains that had traveled far across the oceans and surely knew more than he. It was while studying these grainy philosophers that Yami saw the piece of paper.

He found that it was perched quite lovingly on top of a familiar stack of cards. Yami scooped the cards delicately into his hands, brushing sand from them as one might brush tears from the face of a child. He made certain that the cards were tucked carefully into the slot on his belt before he turned his crimson gaze to the note, opening it with an eager sort of dread.

His breath caught at the message, written in a sharp, mocking hand that screamed at him in an obvious warning to danger.

_I have your light._

_If you ever want to see him again, you will follow the path that makes its way well-known to the eyes of those who are meant to see it._

_If you care not for his safety, feel free to dawdle. His blood will only taste sweeter, tainted with fear and knowledge of your betrayal._

_You have three days, Pharaoh._

Yami crinkled the letter in his tanned fist, closing his eyes tightly as images of Yugi's pale, sweat-drenched face flashed before his mind's eye. All he could hear were Yugi's shaky breaths and the whimpers calling out for aid.

"Yugi…"

* * *

"THAT'S MY PIZZA, YA JERK!"

Joey flew into consciousness, reaching out for an imaginary foe trying to steal away his imaginary pizza, loaded with imaginary pepperonis, sausage, peppers, olives, mushrooms…

The blonde shook his head wildly to drive out images of the sadly non-existent food. Swallowing a mouthful of drool, Joey finally realized that he was not where he was supposed to be.

Though, he wasn't complaining.

"Dis is weird," he commented to the air, rising to his feet.

He blinked in surprise when the ground moved beneath his feet. "Ugh…" he groaned, lifting a foot out the rapidly-sinking mudhole in which he had found himself. His shoes squelched loudly as the mud tried to keep a tight hold on him. "Ferget it!" he snarled at the mud, as though it could understand him and be frightened by his tone or raised fists.

Taking a leap toward the nearby fallen tree, Joey swore loudly when his foot slipped from his shoe. Balancing on one foot, he glared back at the mud which had a tight hold on his foot's apparel.

"Dis sucks," he muttered to no one in particular, getting on his knees on the moss-covered log and reaching out for his sneaker. "When de hell did I get dressed, anyway?"

He only had time to release a small string of swear words after the moldy, long-dead tree crumbled beneath his unfortunate weight and he collapsed heavily into the hungry mud.

* * *

"Ouch! Bastet!"

Tea blinked in surprised when she opened her eyes to find herself no longer in her bedroom. She raised her aching hand to her face to find that a thorn had dug its way into the back of her hand, rather than the claws of her social-hungry cat, as she had expected.

Plucking the thorn from her flesh, Tea flicked it back into the bushes beside her and chanced a more elaborate glance around. She obviously wasn't in Domino – that was pretty easy to see straight off.

Getting to her feet, Tea bit her right index finger in habit as she thought. She was in a forest; a very thick, unfamiliar forest. She identified some of the vegetation as being familiar, which calmed her slightly, but there was concern blooming deep within her gut. Questions prattled in angry fear through her mind. Not just the simple where was she, how did she get her, what was she going to do – they existed within her flustered mind, but other thoughts danced there, as well.

 _Why_ was she here?

Tea bit back the desire to mentally kick herself in the head. Why, indeed.

But, of course… she sighed. Tea wasn't stupid. Obsessive over the need for friendship to a point that made her seem crazed, sure, she'd admit to that. She had her reasons, though, and none of them were either stupidity or insanity.

This just seemed… typical.

Vaguely, she wondered if the others were here, as well. If she found any of them, she'd know immediately that there was something behind this that related to Duel Monsters and the Pharaoh.

Hell, what _didn't_?

A moan stole Tea's thoughts from her in a sudden rush of panic and she spun to face the sound. She bit back a distressed cry of fear at the creature staggering toward her, bulbous folds dripping brown toxins that coated the ground like slime, reaching toward her with thin, dead arms like those of a half-eaten creature of the undead.

Tea retreated with a staggering, fearful step and her fingers found the end of a thick stick just behind her. Gripping it tightly, she abruptly swung it with all of her strength at the creature, finally letting out a terrified shriek that echoed in the forest around her like a death knell lingered around a flock of ravens.

* * *

Tristan _hated_ getting up.

This was one of the reasons that he hated school.

He had just found another reason to hate waking up.

He was suspended in the air by the back of his shirt.

Tristan prided himself in being a tough guy. He'd handled himself against a number of bullies, and most knew not to mess with him, because he was always good and ready to kick someone's ass if he thought they deserved it.

However, Tristan was also dismally aware that he was human, mortal, and completely unable to fly, no matter how hard he flapped his arms.

For this reason, he felt absolutely no shame in screaming at the top of his lungs when he looked to see the ground so far below him it was blurry.

"Oh, shut up!"

The voice startled Tristan into silence, prompting him to turn his head in an attempt to catch sight of whatever held him.

That _whatever_ turned out to be _whoever_.

"Uh… Ryou, what are you doing?" Tristan asked, fear forgotten in his confusion.

The white-haired boy rolled his eyes and made a scoffing sound. "Idiot," he snarled in a very unlike-Ryou manner. "I'm not that weak little friend of yours."

"Oh… Bakura?" Tristan asked rather unnecessarily. He suddenly felt like screaming again, only this time louder, longer, and with many "mommy-please-help-me" shrieks added.

That sound again, a characteristic roll of the eyes. "No, halfwit, I'm the God of Childbirth! Yes, you damn twit!" Bakura tightened his grip on the collar of Tristan's shirt. "It's about damn time you woke up. I wasn't planning on holding you all day."

"Um… well… why did you…" He trailed off, unwilling to make the spirit of the Millennium Ring angry.

"I didn't," Bakura admitted angrily, though he sounded mildly disappointed. "Some damn bird grabbed us both. You were still asleep. I took care of it, though." He smirked evilly, cherishing the memory and the taste of the blood.

"Oh… er…" Tristan swallowed as the dark eyes returned to glare at him. "Th-Thanks, I guess."

Bakura's eyes narrowed and Tristan flinched involuntarily. "I didn't save you," he snarled, "so don't go thinking I'm soft." Tristan shook his head wildly. "I wanted to know if you knew where my host was."

Tristan blinked. "Your… host? Ryou?"

Bakura growled menacingly. "I haven't inhabited the body of any other boys," he snarled. "You and others have made certain of that." Tristan swallowed hard. "But yes, Ryou, seeing as you need clarification."

"But don't you… you know… live _in_ him?"

"I live in the Ring, you halfwit!" Bakura snarled. His eyes narrowed darkly and he seemed to consider dropping Tristan. Instead, he pulled him up slightly, but not far enough for him to touch solid ground. Tristan bit back a whimper of fear, once again spotting the ground so far below. "As it is, I've no idea where the Albino is." A dark look flashed across his face; an emotion inhabiting his eyes that Tristan couldn't and didn't want to place. "He's not in the Ring… he's not here at all… but how could that be…"

Tristan remained silent as the spirit of the Ring muttered to himself. He didn't want to anger the homicidal maniac, as he valued his life dearly and actually _did_ want to graduate high school.

Bakura released a snarl of rage at his confusion, before abruptly jerking Tristan up to solid ground. He released the boy's collar, leaving the brunette to cough and gasp for air after being choked by his shirt.

"B-Bakura!" Tristan gasped. "W-Wait!"

The tomb robber stopped, turning his head only slightly to see the brunette staggering to his feet. "What, halfwit?" he snarled.

"You're going after Ryou?" he asked uselessly.

Bakura's eyes narrowed in impatience. "As much as it pains me," he admitted, "my host is a rather necessary liability."

"But you're… you're here now," Tristan admitted hesitantly, looking at Bakura. The boy's grip had been tight on his shirt. There was no doubt in his mind that the spirit of the Millennium Ring was no _spirit_ any longer.

Bakura's glare was sharp, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Keh!" he declared finally, turning and walking away, not viewing Tristan as worthy of his time. "I have my reasons," he murmured.

Tristan frowned, but followed after the "spirit." He didn't know Bakura's reasoning and he wasn't sure he wanted to know. He was concerned about Ryou, though, for the kind Albino put up with far more shit from the tomb robber than anyone should have to.

Bakura glanced darkly at him momentarily, but didn't say anything as he followed. Tristan remained silent but kept pace with the white-haired tomb raider, remaining constantly a few steps behind. When he found Ryou, _if_ he found Ryou, Tristan would be there to make sure he didn't do anything to his "host."

* * *

Standing half-buried in darkness, the boy chuckled, white hair cascading down his back. There was an inhuman gleam in his eyes and a dangerously-wild smirk on his lips. "Yes, yes, keep coming," he called, watching the proceedings of his prey. "Come a little closer, my friends. It will all be over soon."

Lying on his back in midair, suspended by magic, Yugi's face was as pale as though he were already dead, his lips a dangerous blue. Sweat rolled down his flesh and his eyes were dark and sad.

"Yami…" he whispered. "Yami… don't… don't come…" His eyes closed in tired sorrow. "It's… it's too late… anyway…"


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yami meets up with Tea and Joey, while Tristan continues to follow Bakura. Yugi's captor insists on stopping Bakura's presence most of all, it seems.

 

**Dark Summons**

**III**

* * *

 

Not long after he had read the note, Yami saw a path leading deeper into the forest. He hadn't wanted to take it, because he knew that it most-certainly lead toward a glorious array of deadly traps. However, Yugi was at the other end of this path, and Yami had to save his light, no matter the cost.

Still, Yami thought he would feel better if he knew who was behind all of this. It also wouldn't hurt to know where exactly he was, how he had gotten here, and how it was possible that he had his own body.

_Unless…_

No, he wouldn't think of such things. Yugi was fine. Yami would find him, beat the asshole behind all of this, and then they would go home together. Everything would be all right.

But why did he have such a deep feeling of dread in his stomach?

Yami's body went rigid at the shriek that permeated the soft sounds of the somewhat-peaceful forest. The shriek sounded so familiar, but… could it be?

No matter who it was, they were in danger. Yami broke into a run down the path, hoping that it would lead him toward the screamer in time…

* * *

The heavy stick connected perfectly with the creature's puss-ridden head. Tea staggered with the weight of her weapon's strike, but kept her balance. The same couldn't be said for her filthy companion, who collapsed to the ground with a ragged moan.

"Ow… damn…"

Tea blinked in surprise at the words. They echoed around in her mind. She knew that voice…

The stick fell from her hands, thudding on the ground with less of a complaint than her victim. No way… no… "Joey?"

"Damn, Tea," the bulbous creature mumbled darkly. "I didn't know you played Rugby."

"Oh, Joey!" Tea cried, dropping to her knees beside the mass that she now had identified as one of her best friends. The mud oozing from his soaked form was cold against her pants, but she ignored the sensation, fear and guilt biting back all other complaints. "Joey, I'm sorry!" she cried, reaching out toward the mound she thought was his head with a gentle, unsure hand. She didn't want to hurt him more… "I thought… I thought you were a monster and I'm… I'm so sorry, Joey."

She heard him chuckle, and then he lifted himself up onto his knees. "s'all right, Tea," he assured her, raising his head and blinking. She was barely able to see his chocolate eyes beyond the curtain of mud. "Jus'… could ya not do dat again?" He grinned widely his trademark smile, but then started to curse and spit when mud slipped past his defenses and danced on his taste buds.

Tea laughed, but there were tears in her eyes at the possibility of how badly she could have hurt him. "S-sure, Joey," she promised.

"Good," he mumbled, shaking his head, his tongue hanging out in disgust as though the rapid movement could dislodge the lingering taste of filth on his gums. "Ugh… dis sucks monkeys," he snarled.

Tea laughed again and rose to her feet, holding a hand out for her mud-covered friend. "Come on, Joey," she said. "Maybe we can find a creek or something and you can wash off."

"Sounds good," he said, taking her offered hand and pulling himself to his feet. "Jus'… no more mud holes."

Tea shook the mud from her own hand, grimacing. "Yeah. I'll agree with that," she said, and then groaned when she saw the state of her pants. She released a heavy sigh and turned around. "Well, let's see if we can find somewhere to wash- Yami!"

Yami, who had been about to rush right past them, skidded to an ungraceful stop at her shout. He turned crimson eyes in her direction, the irises filling swiftly with surprise and… relief?

"Tea," he said calmly, the mask falling into place over his shock as he walked toward her. "And Joey." He frowned. "What happened to you?"

"Oh, ya know," Joey said, shrugging his mud-drenched shoulders, "I decided to go swimmin'."

"This is hardly the time," Yami said seriously, but Tea could swear she saw the corners of his mouth twitching. It was an odd sensation, to want to frown and smile at the same time, but it filled her suddenly. It was funny, watching Yami crack a joke (as she thought that's what he was doing), but her earlier thoughts had come back to her. Joey was here, Yami was here, and the others were likely here. That only meant one thing.

Someone else was trying to rule the world.

"Guys, I have some bad news," Yami said, and the nearly non-existent smile had faded altogether.

"Lemme guess," Joey murmured, "we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto?"

Yami frowned at the reference, unaware of its origin. Tea saved him from hurting himself trying to keep up with Joey's randomness. "What is it, Yami?"

Yami met her eyes and, for a moment, the mask fell away, revealing a deepening frown and crimson eyes filled with fear and regret.

"It's Yugi," he said quietly. "He's… he's been kidnapped."

* * *

Bakura was mumbling to himself again, his voice too low for Tristan to hear what he was saying, and the boy had no desire to move any closer to the tomb robber. He had remained silent ever since they began walking, not wanting to draw attention to himself or anger the boy into doing something unpleasant to him. He wasn't certain how long Bakura would stand his presence, even if he remained silent and out of his way.

But Tristan was doing more than simply following the tomb robber. He was watching, observing, taking in every little detail he could like a sponge. He sought answers – answers he knew he wouldn't get if he asked questions. There was something so… odd about the way Bakura was acting. Tristan had caught bits and pieces of what he had been saying. A lot of it – most of it, probably – was about Ryou. For some reason, however, Tristan was under the impression that Bakura wanted to find the Albino for more reasons than just because Ryou was his host and the holder of the Millennium Ring. There seemed to be something deeper than that, but Tristan was almost afraid to consider what it might be.

"You're ridiculously persistent for an idiot."

Tristan looked up at the comment and saw Bakura glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. He was surprised by this turn of events. He hadn't thought that Bakura would be the one to strike up a conversation, but maybe this would be his chance to get some answers…

"It's one of my better qualities," he replied smoothly.

Bakura smirked and Tristan did his best not to flinch in the crosshairs of that dark gaze. "That would depend on who you're asking," Bakura admitted.

Tristan frowned. Did Bakura just… make a joke? "I suppose it would," he replied levelly, not wanting to ignore the tomb robber in case that drew his anger. "The same can be said for you, though, can't it?" Bakura raised an eyebrow, as though asking if Tristan _wanted_ to be slaughtered for insulting him. Tristan went on, "Well, you are still trying to get another body, aren't you?"

"Hmm… I suppose you're right," Bakura agreed, and turned back to face the direction they were walking.

 _And… back to the silence,_ Tristan thought moodily. He resisted the urge to sigh. Bakura was such a strange person. One minute he was a homicidal maniac, and the next he was making conversation – _insulting_ conversation, but at least he wasn't threatening to steal Tristan's body.

 _Probably wouldn't want it, anyway,_ the teen mumbled mentally. He rolled his eyes at the thought and continued following the tomb robber. The white-haired psychopath had forsaken the path that they had stumbled upon, in favor of traversing the countryside.

 _Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail,_ Tristan thought, and wondered briefly what the first part of that quote was. Sure, it wasn't a necessary piece of knowledge, but it wasn't like he had much else to do at the moment.

 _If only I didn't have to worry about Bakura killing me, I could practice one of my songs…_ Tristan absentmindedly reached for his guitar, frowning when he realized that it wasn't strapped to his back. He had been in bed before he woke up in this strange place. Of course he didn't have his guitar with him!

Tristan heaved a weary sigh.

"What's your problem, halfwit?" Bakura snarled, sounding disturbed by the interruption to his thoughts.

"N-nothing," Tristan mumbled in an apologetic tone. "Just… thinking."

"What about?"

Tristan spared a blink of surprise at the tomb raider's uncharacteristic curiosity, but he complied. "I was just thinking about how I wish I had my guitar with me. It usually gives me something to do when I'm… bored, or whatever."

"What? Not enjoying my company?" Bakura asked, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the brunette.

Tristan fiddled with his thoughts for a moment. "I'm fairly sure you're not enjoying mine," he admitted finally.

Bakura frowned and turned back around. "Hmm…" he mumbled after a moment. "Don't jump to conclusions about me, halfwit," he said, his tone only somewhat insulting. "You're not quite as annoying as that damn pharaoh and his light." He spared Tristan a glare. "That's not an invitation to start singing, though, Guitar-boy," he added. "I will kill you if you dare to go that far."

Tristan raised his hands for a truce. "No worries, pal," he assured the maniac. "I value my life, and I'm sure you value your sanity."

Bakura raised a slender eyebrow. "Yes, because I have so much left to cherish," he snapped lightly. He smirked, his face taking on a dark look that sent shivers down the brunette's spine. "Don't think I don't know what goes through your head, Guitar-boy. There's not much to choose from."

Tristan favored silence over replying to the tomb robber's insult. His thoughts were meandering over Bakura's strange behavior. Before he could stop himself and consider the consequences of his big mouth, he blurted, "Why do you want to find Ryou?"

When Bakura stopped abruptly in the middle of the field, Tristan was prepared to die. Instead of turning around a slaying him, however, the white-haired tomb robber remained still, standing with his back toward Tristan, head lowered. His eyes were hidden in the shadow of his bangs and he seemed to be thinking heavily on something.

Finally, he replied in a voice that didn't sound like the confident tomb robber. In fact, it sounded more like a wounded child in need of a comforting hand. "Darkness is… nothing… without the light."

They stood in silence for a long moment, Tristan not knowing what to say, and Bakura lost in thought. The wind danced around them tauntingly and whispered seductive love-songs to the grasses at their feet. Finally, Bakura seemed to rise from the waters of his subconscious and stepped forward.

"Come on, halfwit," he called back to the watching Tristan. "We still have a ways to go."

As Tristan followed the tomb robber, he couldn't help but think that even if they still had mountains to climb, it looked at though he might have ascended the first small peak toward reaching out to the tomb robber.

_Bakura… there's more to you than any of us thought… isn't there?_

* * *

Standing in darkness, the Albino had a smirk peeling back his pale lips and displaying perfect white teeth. "Getting closer, aren't you, Darkness?" he asked of the oblivious thief in his vision. He watched as Bakura dug strong fingers into the cracks of the mountain, pulling himself up the sharp face of the cliff. Tristan was a few feet below him, following closely, a look of determination _almost_ succeeding in hiding his fear.

"You are a stubborn bastard, Bakura," the white-haired boy snarled, "but I can bring an end to that. You've grown weak, tomb robber, and with your weakness, I have gained strength. I hold a power you will never know, and I can defeat you now."

Raising a slender, pale hand, he made a gentle flicking gesture with his wrist, and watched as the rocks near the top of the mountain trembled. He heard Tristan's cry and saw Bakura's eyes widen at the realization of what was happening.

He threw back his head and cackled in delight as the rocks tumbled down the mountain and slammed into the tomb robber, ripping his fingers from their purchase on the rock.

The Albino's soft red eyes flashed darkly as he laughed. Now, no one could stop him. No one!


	4. Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bakura is injured in a rock slide and nearly falls to his death. Yami, Joey, and Tea learn that there are Duel Monsters in this world and they are alive and perfectly lethal.

**IV**

**Dark Summons**

* * *

 

Tristan let out an unmanly cry of surprise and fear when he looked up to see the rocks coming down the mountain. He had thought it was an unsafe choice to climb the steep cliff, but Bakura had not looked twice at the danger.

Tristan was lucky in that he was located underneath an outcropping. The tumbling of the rocks tried to shake off his grip, but he blatantly refused.

Bakura wasn't quite so lucky. He had already passed above the outcropping and was now directly in the line of fire of the rocks and gravity's insatiable desire for revenge.

"Fuck!" he snarled, just before the rocks struck him.

He tried desperately to hang on, despite the pummeling he was receiving. He nearly managed, until a heavy rock smashed viciously against his skull with a loud _crack_. Between the aching of his body and his wavering vision, his tight fingers lost their grip on the rocks, as his mind lost its grip on reality.

And he fell.

* * *

They had found a small brook gurgling like a happy baby through the forest, and Joey had jumped in without hesitation.

Tea was a little more conservative as she cleaned the mud off of herself.

Yami had finished telling them about waking up after lying next to a sick Yugi, to find that he wasn't here, and Yami had his own body. A very pissed off Joey had gone into a mud-splattering rant about the captor of his best friend, but they had managed to finally calm him down.

"Who do you think it is?" Tea asked offhandedly.

Yami sighed and shook his head tiredly. "I don't know, Tea. I wish I did. It would be easier if I knew what I was up against."

A loud roar called their attention from their captive friend and each other. Joey lifted his head out of the brook. Mud-polluted water ran like crocodile tears down his face, as they all turned toward the sound and watched the trees part.

Joey was the first to speak.

"Tell me I'm seein' things," he said weakly.

Tea shook her head. "If you are, Joey, then… so am I." She swallowed hard. "And I don't like it."

Yami had his teeth clenched together as he growled, "Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress."

The blue dragon he was so familiar with roared viciously and towered over them.

"Uh… Yami?" Tea asked, staggering backward a few steps. "How is this… possible?"

Yami just shook his head, not liking any of the possible answers. He wasn't going to say that it was an illusion, though. The heat coming from its far-too-close body was real enough.

Yami thought back to the note. He had found it perched on top of his and Yugi's deck. He looked down at his belt and touched the cards lovingly.

It was worth a shot.

Whipping out the top card off of his deck, Yami glanced at it, before holding it up in the air above his head, facing the dragon.

"Uh… Yami, what're ya doin'?"

"Just trust me, Joey," he replied in a growl. _And I'll try not to get you killed._

"Dark Magician!" he cried to the skies, to the card, and to his own rapidly-beating heart. "Come forth!"

The card in his hand lit up like it was a long-captive star finally being released. The light glowed brilliantly, holding it lovingly, before bursting from the card and striking the ground directly in front of Yami. The white glow faded, replaced by familiar purple and a loyal demeanor, as the Dark Magician appeared protectively before his card-holder.

"Now!" Yami cried, as the Dark Magician twirled his staff in his left hand. "Dark Magic Attack!" The magician thrust out his right hand, fingers splayed, and the three watched as the dragon gave a final roar, before bursting into pieces right before their eyes.

The Dark Magician turned and locked eyes with Yami for a moment. He seemed to gaze right through the Pharaoh's soul with those piercing green irises.

Then he nodded, and faded away, back into the card. Yami sighed in relief and silently thanked his loyal companion, before returning the card to his deck.

"Well," he said, turning to face his friends, "looks like this isn't going to be as easy as we had hoped."

* * *

Tristan had reached out and grabbed Bakura's wrist as the thief tumbled past him. The sudden weight nearly tore Tristan's left hand from its hold on the rocks, but he just barely managed to retain his grip. Still, for a while, he was in a treacherous position. He was holding onto the cliff with a sweating left hand, and only his left foot had a sure balance. His right had found a narrow ledge on which to stand, but his toes kept slipping and Tristan knew he didn't dare place anymore weight on that leg. Bakura was dangling limply in his grip, unconscious, blood running down the side of his face from where the boulder had struck him.

The rocks had stopped coming and Tristan knew that he should have been grateful for the peace. He couldn't help the worry that lit up within his soul, though. There was so much blood…

He knew that head wounds bled the worst, even if they were only minor. However, Bakura was unconscious, so Tristan couldn't exactly ask him how he was doing, and he couldn't get a close enough look at his companion to see if he was in dire need or not.

 _We're both in dire need of a parachute,_ he thought worriedly.

Sadly, the thought of dropping Bakura _had_ crossed his mind, as much as he wished that he could admit it hadn't. Still, he couldn't help but think that Bakura might have simply let him fall to his death, had their positions been reversed. Tristan had thought for a moment that he only saved Bakura because if he had somehow survived the fall, he would be back for Tristan's blood. There was also the chance that he would come back as a ghost or spirit or a freaking blood-sucking zombie, knowing Bakura, and reap his revenge until the whole of humanity was either insane or dead.

 _Probably dead,_ Tristan mused. _Most of humanity is already insane._

But then… that thought was unfulfilling. As much as it made sense that he had saved Bakura out of fear, Tristan would admit to fearing death. He was terrified of dying, but he had risked himself toppling from the cliff to save Bakura. There was more there than simply fear.

 _Just as there's more to you, Bakura,_ Tristan thought.

It was all so confusing. The only thing that Tristan knew for certain at that moment was that they needed to get off of that cliff edge and onto some level ground, and he needed to check Bakura's head wound.

But where-

Tristan blinked in surprise when he saw it. How could he have not noticed it before? He was sure his eyes must have passed over that section of the mountain at least ten times. How had he not seen the entrance to the cavern?

 _This would be a whole lot easier if it were closer._ Tristan gazed longingly at the cavern. _Well… beggars can't be choosers._

"Come on, Bakura," he said to the unconscious boy hanging limply. His arm screamed in protest when he began to pull Bakura up, but he didn't let a sound pass his lips. He grit his teeth angrily at the pain and jerked Bakura up abruptly. He wrapped his arm around the tomb robber's chest, holding the boy against him as he strained to pull himself up the cliff with his other arm.

"Man," he gasped, "for a small dude, you're… pretty heavy." He grinned despite the circumstances and grunted as the jagged rocks cut his hand. "Damn mountains," he swore. "Damn rocks, damn gravity, damn all the cupcakes you eat, Bakura!"

No reply came to his insult and he clenched his teeth. His fingers slipped and he swore loudly. He dug his feet into the crags in the mountainside, pushing himself up. Sweat was rolling down his arms and his back. He could feel Bakura's body beginning to slip through his grasp, but he refused to let go.

"Come on, you dead-weight," he snarled, pulling Bakura up. His arm was shaking with the strain, but he pulled Bakura up above him and shoved him into the cavern. He smirked when he shoved the tomb robber beyond the entrance, and was finally able to let his right arm relaxed.

He breathed a heavy sigh of relief as he was finally holding up only his weight. He leaned his head against the side of the mountain, relishing in his moment of rest and the cool rock on his flesh. He smirked.

Then the rock beneath his hand crumbled. Gravity reached up with greedy hands and pulled him toward the darkness of ultimate destruction.


	5. Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yugi's captor continues his attempts to destroy Bakura and the others, while tormenting Yugi. Tristan has a close-call.

**V**

**Dark Summons**

* * *

 

"Thank you, Celtic Guardian," Yami said gratefully, as he returned the familiar card to his deck. It had just successfully helped them defeat two more Duel Monsters that had shown up to attack them on their journey down the path.

Joey sighed sadly as he replaced his deck in his pocket, his Alligator Swordsman having been defeated moments before Celtic Guardian was able to take out their opponent.

"Sorry, Joey," Tea said sadly. She had her own deck equipped, much to Joey and Yami's surprise. Unfortunately, the monster she summoned hadn't been strong enough to protect Joey's. Their opponent hadn't even felt it necessary to attack her card, and took out Joey's instead.

"S'all right, Tea," Joey said with a grin. "He did what he could!" He gave her a thumbs-up. "Next time we'll take him out!"

"Yeah!" she said, his happiness contagious.

Yami chuckled lightly and then continued on down the path. "Come on, you two. Let's see how far we can get before it gets dark."

Yami had become quite adept at hiding his emotions over the years. When one was locked away in a shattered puzzle for millennia, such talents deteriorated and it had taken him some time to regain such an ability. However, regain it he had, and he was utilizing it now. Outside, he was calm and even enjoying Joey's regular sarcasm. Inside, however, a storm raged. Rain pounded like so many fearful tears, for he was crying inside, and the lightning flashed in rage. Thunder roared like a dragon deep within his soul, and he was clouded in darkness… fear.

_Yugi…_

Yami's crimson eyes narrowed, nets cast outward by his consciousness to catch the tears that dared to fall and break his mask.

 _Yugi… if anything happens to you… I... Ra, I never_ will _forgive myself. How could I let you be taken away, Aibou... Light... Yugi..._

* * *

His teeth flashed in the dim light that illuminated the cavern. He was watching the trio as they made their way down the path. He chuckled to himself.

"Yes, yes, follow the path, Pharaoh. Follow the path right to your doom."

They weren't far off. Not too far. And he couldn't wait until they arrived at his gate, right into his hands and their destruction. So predictable...

True, he was sending out monsters to attack them, but his main intention was for the Pharaoh to come to him. If the monsters did manage to destroy the other two, then that would simply reduce necessary cleanup in the future. It would also suffice to make the Pharaoh's despair taste all that sweeter.

"Mmm…" He licked his lips delicately and turned from the magical window. Behind him, the Pharaoh's light hovered weakly above the ground. His face was pale and cold, even as sweat streaked down his flesh. His eyes were closed, his body no longer strong enough to allow him to peel back those lids and reveal dulled violet eyes.

Soon.

Soon, the boy's spirit would fade to a mere shimmer, much thanks to his soul-draining magic. He didn't think that Yugi was even aware that he was being held in the air by the power of his own soul. Sustaining that levitation, however, was swiftly draining him. Not to mention that they were in the Shadow Realm, and Yugi was extremely susceptible to the dark forces here. He had been here and suffered its effects once before, and he was pure light.

 _Not long now,_ he mused gleefully. _Not long now, and you're soul will fade, Yugi. Then, the Pharaoh's sweet, sweet despair will be mine._ He turned red eyes to the viewing mirror as the scene changed to reveal the duo. _And then you will be next… Bakura._

His eyes scanned the scene, watching as the brunette pushed Bakura's limp form into the cavern.

The cavern that hadn't existed until a few minutes previous.

 _So… you're fighting me, are you, my other half?_ A sneer slid onto his face. _Battle my will all you wish. You haven't the power to defeat me. Whimper and stall like the infant you are. The results will be the same._ He threw back his head and laughed cruelly, his madness echoing about the chamber ominously.

Hovering a few feet above the floor, Yugi whimpered at the familiarly terrifying sound. His lips parted only slightly, as a name came to his lips in a feverish, pleading whisper.

"Ryou…"

* * *

Tristan hated gravity more than he hated cough medicine, which was saying something. So when his hand slipped and gravity gripped him greedily, he had no qualms about screaming out cuss words that would have made Osiris cringe.

And then a hand clasped his wrist.

Tristan let out an unmanly squeal as his chest slammed against the rocky wall, the air abruptly forced from his lungs. Even as he struggled to regain his breath, he raised his eyes to see a familiar face above him.

"B-Bakura?" he stammered weakly, seeing that the tomb robber had wrapped a pale hand around his wrist and was gripping him a death-grip that threatened to cut off Tristan's circulation. "W-what?"

Bakura only released a growl, as he began to pull Tristan up by his wrist. The brunette scrabbled clumsily at the wall, but managed to get a relatively firm grip on the rocks with his other hand and was helping to push himself up with his feet.

When he had been raised further up the mountain, Bakura suddenly let go of his wrist and grabbed the scruff of his shirt in both hands. Tristan let out a terrified breath as the tomb robber pulled him up until their faces were mere inches apart.

"Don't you ever think that you can escape me like that again!" Bakura snarled viciously, causing Tristan to flinch. "When you die, it's going to be by my hand and no one else's! Do you understand?!"

Tristan nodded weakly, unable to speak.

Bakura's grip loosened on his shirt and Tristan's knees finally made contact with the floor of the cavern. Bakura released a calming breath between his teeth.

"Good," he snarled to Tristan's response, and then promptly collapsed to the floor of the cavern, unconscious.

* * *

"WHAT NAME DID YOU SPEAK?!"

Yugi didn't have strength enough to respond to his enraged captor. Instead, he simply lay in midair, staring up into those pale red eyes with his own dulling violet. He was dying, he knew it. He didn't have much longer, but he could at least... at least...

"Ryou," he whispered weakly.

The albino threw his head back and roared angrily at the walls of the cavern. "HOW DARE YOU?!" he shrieked. "HOW DARE YOU SPEAK THAT NAME! THAT NAME OF WEAKNESS!" He returned his eyes to the pale, fading child in front of him, seething. But his face regained the calm demeanor that usually graced his features. Only his eyes betrayed the hatred, and his voice, coated with ice so thick it would have frozen the world had it been released from its verbal prison. "You will pay for that, little light," he whispered, and he slowly drew a gleaming dagger from a sheath. "You will pay for speaking such a horrible name as that."

He placed the tip of the dagger against the flesh of Yugi's neck and slowly trailed it down. He didn't press hard enough to draw blood, but he grinned in satisfaction when he heard Yugi whimper softly at the feeling of the cool metal gliding over his flesh.

Holding the dagger like one might hold a pen, he suddenly flicked the flesh of Yugi's forearm, drawing both blood and a whimper. He leaned down and licked the blood delicately, savoring the taste of fear and pain. "Oh, little light, you are but an appetizer to a feast." He smiled down at the boy. "And I have little use left for you, but to be my plaything until the main course arrives." He threw back his head and laughed cruelly, white hair flaring around his head like an aura of madness.

He drew the dagger down Yugi's arms, drawing a line of crimson blood. He watched as Yugi's heavy eyelids slipped closed wearily, his breathing growing ragged from the pain. He smiled and trailed a finger through the blood, raising it to write on the bare wall of the cavern. He smiled as the blood gleamed and then ran down the wall from his letters.

"Your blood... the ink of your soul." He grinned. "I shall write your story, little light, in the liquid of your very spirit, and all will know the tale. All will know how I tasted pure innocence, before I devoured the broken spirit of the Pharaoh." He laughed darkly again and then turned back to his prisoner, trailing the knife over his chest and then down, slowly, down.

"Anything you want me to say, little light, in this story? Any last pleas to be witnessed?"

It seemed to cost him all of his strength, but Yugi managed to crack his dull violet eyes open just enough to see his captor. He struggled weakly, a single word slipping past his lips.

"...Ryou..."

A fierce, burning hatred lit up in those rodent-like crimson eyes and the hand gripping the dagger tightened until the knuckles on it were as white as Yugi's deathly-pale flesh. "You're not as much fun to play with as I had hoped, Yugi," he said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "What a pity."

And then he plunged the dagger deep into Yugi's abdomen, watching in fascination as blood bloomed forth like a rose.

* * *

Lying in bed, he shivered suddenly, a cold wind kissing his face gently. The wind whispered a warning, begging him to take heed to the voices, to hear the cries, to help.

But the child slept on, his consciousness oblivious, as it had been for years. The wind cried in remorse at the fate this would lead them to, and then slipped away, realizing defeat.

The wind's farewell was barely tangible, but the absence of the gentle kisses caused the boy to gasp suddenly in slumber, a frown stealing his beautiful face. His lips parted only slightly, as he gasped for breath, and begged to remember… to remember…

That face.

That name.

He knew it… he knew it… he had to speak it… to cry the words… to help them…

But the wind… the wind that had known the secrets, had given up her task to hopelessness, and the boy slept on. Oblivious to dangers, and oblivious to the only secret that could save them.


	6. Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tristian does what he can to treat Bakura's head wound. The tomb robber meets Yugi's captor and is reminded viciously of his past.

**Dark Summons**

**VI**

* * *

 

The last thing Tristan had expected to be doing today was playing nurse.

In fact, he had _never_ expected to hold that position over anyone. Even when he and Joey were still the school bullies, beating up anyone they could, they cleaned _themselves_ up. Neither of them had ever gotten help from even each other. Joey always said you weren't strong if you had to rely on other people.

Tristan shook his head, chuckling lightly. Things sure had changed…

His eyes returned to the unconscious _boy_. Although Bakura (ignoring the fact that he had been sealed in the Millennium Ring for over three thousand years) looked like he was the same age as Tristan, he was never quite comfortable referring to him as though he were. It probably had something to do with the fact that Bakura had tried to kill them on more than one occasion.

_But he did just save your life._

Tristan groaned, leaning back against the wall of the cavern. He had been trying to ignore that little voice in his head. Yes, of course he knew that Bakura had just saved him, but that didn't help him at all considering that he had no idea why the sadistic tomb robber would have bothered with such a thing.

" _When you die, it's going to be by my hand and no one else's!"_

So Bakura only saved him as a way to salvage his own ego? He wouldn't feel as powerful if the laws of physics stole away a chance at Bakura to murder someone?

Somehow, that just didn't seem right.

Sighing, Tristan reached up and rubbed his face wearily with a hand. He had been anxious when Bakura had fainted after saving him, worried that the tomb robber had lost too much blood and was finally succumbing to death.

Why he cared, he wasn't sure.

At it was, the wound on Bakura's head hadn't been very large. There would surely be a lump there from his having been struck by the rock, but the wound was little more than a scratch. The rest of his body had been beaten painfully by the avalanche and bruises had begun forming loyally, but he wasn't as bad off as he could have been.

Tristan had cleaned the tomb robber up as best he could, anyway. Naturally, despite the head wound being so small, it still bled quite fiercely. Tristan was required to sacrifice his white shirt in order to rip off a bandage to wrap around the tomb robber's skull. It amused him lightly to see the sadist's wild white hair puff up even more around the top of the bandage.

Tristan closed his eyes, leaning against the cavern wall and listening to the soft, even breathing of his companion. He had never expected to find himself in this situation; alone with Bakura, the Millennium Ring-wearing maniac.

Pulling his brown trench coat tighter around his bare chest, Tristan settled into a slightly more comfortable position. Since Bakura didn't look like he'd be waking up anytime soon, now was probably a good time to catch up on some much-needed sleep.

He'd have to remember to stop hanging precariously off of cliff-sides. It really was an exhausting habit.

* * *

"What the hell?!"

Bakura was annoyed, which was a dangerous position for anyone around him. He usually took this to his advantage, scaring the shit out of the one with the weakest spirit and learning all of the information he needed, and getting whatever else he desired at that moment.

Unfortunately for Bakura, he was alone.

Completely and utterly alone.

He swore loudly when he failed to suppress the shiver that ran up his spine. Bakura would never admit it to anyone (including himself, much of the time) that the time he had spent trapped within the confines of the Millennium Ring had been the most terrifying and painful moments of his life.

_Three hundred lifetimes… all of them darkness, agony, and fear-_

"I AM NOT WEAK!" Bakura roared loudly, cutting off his betraying thoughts.

He _hated_ thinking of that time. He _hated_ being locked within the Millennium Ring. He _hated_ that he had been made into nothing more than a mere spirit by the power of the Shadows.

He hated being _confined_.

That was the main reason why Bakura had taken advantage of Ryou's naturally submissive attitude. He had dominated the passive youth, casting him backward into their Soul Room and stealing his life. Bakura had been desperate to be out of those shadows, away from the darkness, and free…

But that freedom had been an illusion… maybe freedom was never anything more than an illusion…

Bakura looked down at his hand. His flesh was tan, not like the pale flesh of his host. He had been granted a body by whatever shadow had taken control of this realm. He had been given back the body he had three thousand years ago…

And where was Ryou?

_Damnit, stop thinking about him!_

But he couldn't, of course. Ryou… Ryou was the other half of his soul. He never acted like it, though. He had always acted as though the boy were a burden to him. That wasn't true, and he had always known it. Ryou was the light against the darkness of his soul – eternal darkness. It was the darkness that had been the burden.

Bakura had been a burden on himself… and on Ryou.

_Damnit…_

Why was he thinking these things now?

Bakura ran a hand through his hair wearily, pulling his hand away sudden at feeling something wet on his palm. He looked at the crimson liquid that marred his flesh.

_Blood?_

He wiped at his head, wincing as his fingers graced a tender spot.

_Why am I bleeding?_

" _Bakura…"_

Bakura glanced up in surprise, blood forgotten. Darkness reigned supreme all around him and the voice echoed tauntingly beyond his sight.

But he knew the voice.

" _Bakura…"_

Why did hope suddenly surge within him at hearing that voice? Why did he suddenly feel as though the darkness within his soul was being expelled? It was as though… as though the shadows were receding from him, drawn to another source… another darkness.

" _Bakura."_

Suddenly, the shadowy world around him disappeared. It didn't fade away gradually, but blinked out of existence as though it had never been.

Bakura stumbled, the action catching him off guard. He managed to regain his balance before he collapsed, and his eyes swiveled, taking in the new scenery.

He was in a cave – deep inside one, from what he could tell. The rock walls were made of dark stone and his footfalls echoed ominously as he began to walk, his eyes searching for the source of the voice.

" _Bakura!"_

Bakura turned swiftly at the sudden rasp of the voice behind him. When he turned, however, he saw that no one was there. Straightening, he blinked and returned to looking around.

He halted abruptly when a pale hand slithered around his middle and hot breath licked delicately at his left ear.

" _Bakura…"_

Bakura swallowed hard. There was something… something…

He repressed the sudden urge to shiver at the cold voice, the frozen aura. This was where his darkness had fled to; he knew it instantly. The cold power that radiated from the form behind him nearly brought tears to Bakura's eyes, but he was stronger than that.

"H-Host, what do you think you're doing?"

 _Damn your stuttering, you weak asshole!_ he swore at himself, but tried to bite back his quaking fear. What was causing this?

" _Aww… not happy to see me, Bakura?"_ Ryou hissed poutily in his ear. _"I'm happy to see you…"_ Grabbing Bakura's shoulder tightly, he forced the tomb robber to turn swiftly and met the confused, fear-ridden gaze with his own pale-red eyes. He grinned maliciously.

" _What's this, Bakura? I can taste your fear."_ He chuckled darkly and was amused to see the boy flinch. He felt the unconscious jerk in his arms. _"It is so sweet, Bakura, this fear of yours. Tell me, is this what happens when one watches all those they care about die?"_

Bakura gasped as memories began to assail him. Yes, he remembered every moment of that fateful day, but now the images were being replayed in his mind over and over again, as though someone had turned on a switch in his head. He felt his body begin to shiver, his fear rising, but he was unable to stop it. He bit back a whimper, trying to tell himself he was stronger now. It had been centuries, millennia. He wasn't a child anymore!

Oh… but he felt like a child again…

Distantly, he heard Ryou cackling madly, but the boy had faded from his sight as those scenes took over all of his vision. Bakura was a child again, back in Kul Elna. He was hiding from the Pharaoh's men, watching with wide eyes as people he knew – his friends and family – were slaughtered without remorse.

Bakura couldn't restrain the whimper and it slipped out, followed by tears that rolled down his cheeks. So long… so long, he had buried his emotions deep inside, buried his pain down where not even he could find it. Only his rage fed the shadows, and they in turn fed his power.

But now… the shadows had betrayed him. They had betrayed him as they had promised never to do.

And he was alone again with his pain and fear and the horrible, horrible memories.

Completely and utterly alone…

* * *

Tristan was awakened abruptly from slumber to the sound of someone screaming.

His eyes opened immediately, his body completely alert. His mind, however, had not been ready for what graced his vision.

Bakura was lying where he had left him, but he was no longer still. His arms were waving about madly as though attempted to fight off a demon, and Bakura was thrashing around wildly, screaming at the top of his lungs. The tails of the Millennium Ring jerked and swayed dangerously, their sharp ends gleaming almost hungrily.

Fighting down his shock, Tristan moved forward for Bakura. He winced when one of Bakura's arms brutally battered his face, causing him to retreat from the flailing boy. It was three tries later that Tristan finally grabbed the Millennium Ring in his hand.

He jerked on it roughly, pulling Bakura to him and wrapping his arms tightly around the tomb robber's form, pinning his arms to his sides.

Bakura struggled futilely for a while, before his mind finally succumbed to the realization that he couldn't escape, and he went still.

Tristan studied the tomb robber's face, shocked to see that the porcelain mask that Bakura always had up had been shattered. There were tears on his tan cheeks and his mouth had curved down into a frown of something that ran far deeper than fear.

His eyes hadn't been open when he had been thrashing around. He had still been unconscious while in that fit, and Tristan had to wonder what had happened to cause such a horrific reaction.

Feeling slightly awkward, but somehow as though this were the right thing to do, Tristan settled back against the cavern wall. He held Bakura tightly to him, almost cradling the tomb robber, as more silent tears began to roll down his cheeks.

Tristan blinked in surprise when Bakura spoke. The words were in a language Tristan didn't recognize – probably Ancient Egyptian. They were spoken, however, in a tone that didn't sound like it should belong to Bakura, the sadistic wielder of the Millennium Ring. The tone belonged to that of a child, small and terrified.

Tristan couldn't understand the words being whimpered passed the lips of the unconscious boy, but three words didn't appear into his mind, seemingly of their own accord.

_Dark._

_Cold._

_Alone._

The last rang out clearest of all and Tristan unconsciously pulled the tomb robber closer to him.

_Alone._

The tears were soaking into Tristan's arms and he could feel them rolling down his chest, but he made no move to push the boy away.

_Alone._

Was this the side of Bakura that he kept hidden beneath all of the madness and sadistic smiles? Was this pain something that he had dealing with for an eternity by himself, trapped in the Millennium Ring?

_Alone._

"You're not alone, Bakura," Tristan assured the sleeping boy. The words had come out on their own, without his desire to speak them. Now that they were out in the open, however, he couldn't think of any reason to call them back.

"You're not alone," he repeated. "I promise, you'll never be alone again."


	7. Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryou wakes up in bed with a bad feeling, and then things get worse and he finds Yugi.

**Dark Summons**

**VII**

* * *

 

Something was wrong.

He was still trapped in the depths of slumber when he felt the disturbance dancing in the air around him. In the wind, but somehow beyond it, buried within the very particles of life that surrounded everything.

" _Ryou…"_

He groaned at the whispers of life dancing in his ears. It had been a long time since he had heard such a call. So long, in fact, that he had managed to will himself into believing that they had never existed in the first place.

But here they were, and they summoned him again.

" _Ryou…"_

That voice… that voice… he knew it, he was sure. It was a familiar tone; soft, friendly, but there was something else there, as well. Something was weighing on the tone, holding it down as a guard held a prisoner. Its strength was ebbing, and it was using every last piece of its will to summon him.

So shouldn't he answer?

Oh, but how he wanted to forget that such a call even existed. Such memories brought him only pain. He had almost managed… almost.

But no one could truly escape their destiny.

" _Ryou…"_

Reluctantly, Ryou surrendered to consciousness' greedy pull on his mind. Yawning, he opened soft red eyes wearily. His eyes scanned the room around him, absentmindedly acquiring that everything was in its proper place. It's something that he had begun doing as soon as he realized that there was an evil spirit inside of him that had been a thief three millennia previous. No wonder things had been missing…

Ryou sat up slowly, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He shook his head to drive away the lingering hands of slumber, his white mane dancing wildly at the action. He yawned again, willing sleep away and full consciousness to take the throne within his being.

The moment that it did, Ryou went completely rigid at the feeling that gripped him and sent a wafting pain of realization through his heart.

He was… empty.

Alone.

Closing his eyes, not daring to believe such an impossibility, Ryou sank deep within himself, searching. His body did not move, but his mind's being was darting around within himself, seeking out his other half.

But he wasn't there.

Ryou's eyes snapped open. Where… it wasn't possible.

Ryou staggered to his feet, the tails of the Millennium Ring chimed and danced at his abrupt movement, as if to remind Ryou that they were still with him.

But the chiming sounded hollow. There was no other presence buried within its depths.

"Bakura," Ryou whispered, and almost shivered at how his voice sounded wanting. He reached up and touched the ring softly, as though to try and summon the dark spirit to him.

Instead, a fierce tugging sensation erupted within Ryou's stomach. His vision blurred and nausea consumed him, his body growing weak instantly. He felt his knees hit the ground, just before his mind was thrown from his body, whisked away by some unseen, consuming force.

He was flying. He wasn't quite sure how, not that such a thing mattered to him at the moment. Even the fact that he was aware of being separated from his body wasn't a great weight on his mind. He was focusing on the images rushing past him.

First, sand. Endless, endless sand.

A forest.

Swamplands.

Mountains.

A sea of fire.

They rushed past him in almost-unrecognizable blurs, as though he were flying at a speed that even the gods couldn't match.

A temple.

Ryou dove toward the entrance and raced through dark tunnels, the only light being the blood on the walls that glowed ominously in the form of long-forgotten hieroglyphics.

The maze of tunnels ended abruptly when Ryou reached a wide chamber. The walls were decorated in crimson hieroglyphics, the blood dripping as though the symbols had just recently been painted. The force holding him in the air retreated, leaving his feet to touch the floor. Even the soft sound of gravity taking over echoed darkly through the vast chamber, and a feeling of dread filled him, though he was unsure as to why.

"R-Ryou?"

Ryou blinked in surprise at the soft echo and turned to find its source. As his eyes settled on the speaker, he brought his hands to his mouth in horrified shock.

"Y-Yugi!" Ryou cried, his voice doing nothing to hide his despair at the condition of his friend. Yugi was lying in the center of the chamber in a growing pool of crimson blood. Strange runes and circles had been drawn around him in the blood that had once coursed through his veins. His large violet eyes were only half-open, beautiful violet irises now dimmed in weary agony.

Ryou dropped to his knees when he reached him, ignoring the blood that seeped quickly through the knees of his pants.

"Yu-Yugi… what…"

Yugi reached up weakly and Ryou grasped his hand in his own, biting back tears at how cold his friend's flesh had become. This seemed all-too familiar…

"You have to… help them… Ryou," Yugi whimpered weakly. "They have to… stay… away…"

A feeling of utter horror passed over Ryou's face. How could Yugi ask such a thing? They couldn't leave him! They couldn't abandon him to such a fate as this! "Yugi," Ryou argued immediately, "we have to help you!"

Yugi shook his head weakly, the action so small it almost went unnoticed. "It's… too late," he croaked. "St-stay away… Ryou…"

"No, Yugi!" Ryou cried defiantly. "I won't just leave you!"

Yugi smiled gently, his eyes shining in the admiration he so often gave others at his own expense. Such an empathic action immediately brought tears to Ryou's eyes. "Ry…ou… you're such a… a great… friend. Y-you… understand." There were tears leaking out of the corners of Yugi's dimming violet eyes. "Ple-please… Ryou," he pleaded. "Please… stay… away… stay… stay… safe…"

He reached up weakly and gripped Ryou's hand with his other. Ryou ignored the blood that coated his fingers from being grasped within Yugi's two bleeding hands. The cold of his flesh bit viciously at Ryou's own, but he ignored the discomfort. His eyes were locked with Yugi's, trying in vain not to see the many deep slashed down Yugi's pale arms, the jagged tears in his now-ragged shirt, the blood seeping everywhere. He barely bit back a sob at what had been done to his friend.

"Ryou… keep them… away," Yugi whispered. "Keep them… safe… my… my friend." He smiled softly at Ryou. "My… b-brother."

Ryou's eyes widened at the title being bestowed upon him. Yugi was one of the few people that knew Ryou once had a little sister, years ago, back when his family was whole. For Yugi to call him "brother" was to place a trust in him that Ryou couldn't even place in himself.

"Yugi, I…"

"You… are," Yugi assured him. "Don't… doubt it… ever…"

"I…" Ryou managed a smile, even as tears ran down his cheeks. "Thank you… Brother."

Yugi smiled, his dull eyes slipping closed. His hands went limp in Ryou's grasp, pulling a gasp of terror from the Albino.

"Yugi!" Ryou cried in alarm. "Yugi!"

But Yugi's head just slipped to the side, and Ryou felt that nauseous pulling on his stomach. He screamed and gripped his head tightly as familiar, oh so familiar, agony washed over him like consuming waves. His eyes were closed tightly to try and drive away the pain, but the man still stepped into his view.

Ryou couldn't even manage a gasp at the sight. It was him, he knew. Him. Not Bakura, but Ryou, standing there with waving white hair and pale red eyes, a vicious sneer across his face. Ryou was still screaming – somewhere he knew that – but he could no longer hear the sound of his cries, as the man before him began to speak.

" _Did you think you had lost me forever, Ryou?"_ He laughed viciously, a deep-throated cackle that sent goosebumps up Ryou's arms and made his whole body shake in fear. _"Did you really think you could lose me so easily? I am within you, always, even when you try and cast me away. I am you, Ryou. Never forget that. I am you. And soon, I will destroy whatever is left of your damnable light, and I will consume you!"_ He threw his head back and laughed. _"And then_ I _will be the most_ powerful _being in the universe!"_

He faded from sight, back into the darkness from which he had spawned, but his laughter still echoed around Ryou, and through him.

He felt the carpet of his room once again beneath his knees, but he didn't dare open his eyes. The sight of Yugi lying before him, drenched in blood… dead. He was still gripping his head tightly, screams ripping endlessly from somewhere deep within his soul. Was there no end to them?

"Yugi… Yugi… it isn't fair! IT ISN'T FAIR!!!"


	8. Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yami and Bakura both awaken, one to terror and one to confusion. Meanwhile, Ryou remembers a part of his past he had wished to forget.

**Dark Summons**

**VIII**

* * *

The sun had fallen hours before. Knowing how dangerous it would be to continue without the light, the trio had decided to stop for the night. Yami knew they had to, but his heart was still reluctant.

He was certain part of his reluctance was because he knew he would not sleep. He would only be able to lay there and think of his failure.

"Yugi," he whispered softly, staring at the moon above him. Such a beautiful, pale tone of light, the moon glowed loyally throughout the night hours, revealing the way even in the deepest shades of darkness. It reminded him of Yugi, who had been the light that showed him the way through his own darkness.

Yami's eyes narrowed, but in the face of the all-encompassing night, he was unable to fight off the tears.

They burned in betrayal as they rolled down his cheeks. Yami cried in silence as Joey and Tea slept on, oblivious. His hands were clasped over his stomach and he did not move to wipe away the tears. He let them fall. He let them fall for the moon and all of the stars to see. He had failed Yugi by letting him be taken. Screw pride, he deserved whatever laughter the night's watchers dished out at his expense.

But the moon did not laugh.

"You _are_ like my aibou," he muttered to the moon, his eyes tracing her pale, glowing flesh. His closed his eyes softly, willing the image of his partner to appear before his mind. "Aibou," he whispered.

In his mind's eye, Yugi was smiling at him softly. As he watched, however, that smile vanished, the glittering happiness in those beautiful violet eyes vanishing. The eyes grew dull; his flesh grew paler even than the moon. Then crimson… crimson blood all over his body.

" _YUGI!"_

Yami reached out with his mind, trying to grasp Yugi and pull him to safety, but the darkness reached up with sick tendrils and wrapped around Yugi's ankles, his wrists, his throat. The darkness bit into him, drawing more blood. Yugi gave a short cry, and then his eyes glazed over, his body going limp in the darkness' cold, cruel embrace. A laugh, dark and mocking, erupted from the darkness, echoing like an unforgiving nightmare.

" _He's mine now, Pharaoh!"_

Yami sat up with a cry, startling both Joey and Tea awake. He gripped his chest in pain, fire racing through his veins viciously. He felt like… like part of his soul had been ripped out.

"Yu-Yugi!" he gasped.

"Yami! You all right, pal?" Joey put his hand on Yami's shoulder, concern flaring in his chocolate eyes as he watched his friend clutching his chest, his eyes closed tightly. He could feel him trembling beneath his hand and hear the ragged breath that raced in and out from between tightly-clenched teeth.

"J-Joey," Yami murmured.

"Yeah, pal," Joey said, "I'm right here."

Yami didn't look at him. He continued to keep his eyes closed tight, bent over himself as he gripped his chest. Tea and Joey didn't know what he was doing, but Yami was searching within himself. He had tried this earlier, when he realized that he and Yugi had been separated. He had tried to find Yugi, but had found that the boy no longer dwelled in the same form as he did. Still, he had been able to feel _something_.

Now, though…

"He's… he's gone," Yami whispered, his eyes finally opening, crimson gaze wakening to the world as the sun did every morning. But these twin suns were clouded with despair, fear, and raining tears. "He's gone," he whispered again, and the despair in his soul leaked out through his words. "Yugi… Yugi's gone."

And he cried for all the world to see.

* * *

Tristan was still holding Bakura in his arms when the thief awoke.

Having dozed off, Tristan did not see the boy's eyes open slowly, and then widen at realizing that he was clutched tightly in someone's embrace. He jerked away, fear rising harshly in his dark, almost-black irises.

And then he saw who it was that had been holding him. His muscles relaxed at seeing the boy still sleeping, his breathing even and his head bowed against his chest.

_Idiot,_ Bakura snarled to himself. _Why the hell was he holding me?!_ Bakura rubbed his hands down his arms, as though trying to wipe away invisible grime. He reached a hand up to brush his hair back, only to wince when his hand came in contact with a sore spot. _What the-_

He touched the blood-soaked cloth that adorned his head, and then his eyes caught sight of the white cloth that was wrapped around his left forearm. He frowned at it. Where had that come from?

Unconsciously, his eyes moved back to the boy sleeping before him, only to see that his chest was bare beneath the tan trench coat he was wearing. Bakura looked back down at the make-shift bandage on his arm. _He… he… right… the rocks… there was an avalanche._

Bakura remembered. He had been climbing the mountain above the brunette, making his way up the cliff-side. The boy hadn't wanted to come that way, thinking it was too dangerous. Bakura didn't fear danger, though, and once he reached the top of the mountain, he would be able to see what obstacles lay ahead of them.

He had never thought of obstacles _on_ the mountain.

He remembered the rocks falling, pummeling him viciously. He had tried to hold on, his thoughts returning to Ryou for Ra-knows-what reason. But the rocks had been too strong, too much, and then he had been struck down. He vaguely remembered feeling his fingers slip on the rocks, and then air all around him. A harsh jerk on his wrist, and then darkness consumed him.

It had returned only for a moment. He remembered hearing a cry… remembered feeling safe ground beneath him. He had been in a cave of some sort. He wasn't sure how he had managed to get there, but then he remembered watching the boy begin to fall. He'd moved before he'd even thought about it, catching the boy, pulling him to safety.

He didn't know why he'd saved him. He gave him some threatening line about how he would be the only one to kill the boy, but he really didn't know. In fact, he was pretty sure it was only thanks to the boy that he hadn't fallen to his death moments… hours… days before. He didn't know how long it had been.

But then the darkness had come back, and Ryou… Ryou… but… it didn't seem like Ryou. That wasn't the Ryou that he knew. The Ryou he knew… his host was kind-hearted, loving. He held a lot of fear and loneliness in his heart, but he never let it corrupt him. Not like Bakura.

Bakura had let the darkness corrupt him. He had let the shadows consume him. He had become one with the shadows.

But… but he felt different now… less… or maybe it was more. Yes, yes, _more_. He felt more… _alive_. Free! He felt free!

But why?

The shadows. They were gone.

_That's right… the shadows… they left me. They went with Ryou… but… but that couldn't have been Ryou…_

And why was he suddenly calling the boy by his name? Didn't he always call him _Host?_ But… Host didn't sound right. It wasn't right, for some reason.

Ryou. Yes… yes, his name was Ryou.

And Bakura had to find him. He had to find Ryou. He had to find Ryou and tell him… tell him not to let the darkness in. The darkness, the shadows, they were a burden! He had to tell Ryou that the shadows are what made him so alone… so alone…

" _You're not alone, Bakura. You're not alone. I promise, you'll never be alone again."_

Bakura blinked in surprise, turning to look at the boy slumped against the wall. That was… he had heard those words spoken while he watched his family and friends slaughtered. Not as it happened but… a memory. A memory of the loneliness.

But he wasn't alone anymore.

"Mer," he whispered in his native tongue. He smiled, something he hadn't done in a long time. But it felt right, this smile, so he let it stay. He watched the boy sleep. The boy who wished he had his guitar with him. The boy who had stayed by his side, even when he and the shadows were so cruel to him.

Bakura sat down on the floor of the cavern and leaned against the wall opposite the sleeping boy. He watched as the brunette inhaled and exhaled deep, even breaths. It was interesting. It had been so long since he'd dared to call someone _mer_ … friend. But he thought… maybe… maybe, it was finally time to let go of the past, of the shadows.

Maybe it was finally time he took a lesson from Ryou, and saw the light.

But just as he thought that, the darkness returned.

* * *

_Incessant beeping, endless crying, white walls, harsh light, monstrous machines that promised protection but so often turned away when needed most._

_Ryou held his little sister's hand tightly as she lie in the hospital bed that seemed an endless mass of white holding her small, frail form. Her beautiful green eyes were dulled with pain medication and the impending fate that not even the most prominent sciences could delay any longer. Oddly, those eyes held none of the fear that feasted on his soul so ravishly._

" _Why are Mommy and Daddy crying, Big Brother?" she asked innocently._

_Ryou held back his tears. He had learned long ago how to hide his emotions. It was necessary when you were an Albino; a freak of nature in a world of people who could never accept you._

" _It's… they're scared, Amane," Ryou admitted reluctantly, but he could not lie to her. His little sister… his only and dearest friend._

_She smiled softly at him, green eyes sparkling. "Don't be sad, Big Brother," she said, seeing through his mask where no one else could. "Tell Mommy and Daddy not to be sad. I'll… I'll be watching you."_

" _Amane-" he barely managed to choke out, before her hand went limp in his, and an endless droning cry filled the room._

Ryou sobbed hysterically. He had held Yugi's hand, just as he had held Amane's hand after the accident. She had left him, just as Yugi had left him. Was there no end to this pain.

Ryou threw back his head and screamed. "WHY DO YOU KEEP TAKING PEOPLE FROM ME?! WHY?!" His strength left him and he buried his face into the carpet, his tear-soaked knuckles digging into his cheekbones, but he made no movement to escape the pain. Such physical feelings were nothing in comparison to the ancient wars battling within his soul.

He knew this feeling. He had tried to forget it long ago. He had almost managed. He had almost cast it out entirely.

But now it was back.

The pain, the fear, the anger… endless, endless anger.

Ryou felt the world rip in two as he screamed. His very soul cried out for the vengeance that he had refused to take so long ago. He had refused the call for blood, casting out the darkness.

But the darkness had returned, and this time, it had betrayed him. It had taken from him his dearest, most precious friend.

Yugi was gone.

Just like Amane.

Ryou raised his head, gazing into the darkness that was glowing like a beacon before him, swirling in an endless tunnel of iridescent blackness. His eyes were crimson; not pale pink as normal, but as red as the blood of his sister spilling from her broken flesh after the car had struck her.

_Amane…_

He was shaking in pain, in fear, in rage.

_Yugi…_

His eyes narrowed darkly, a fire blazing within their depths that he thought he had snuffed long, long ago.

_My friends…_

The shadows before him whispered their calls to arms.

_My sister…_

A Death Knell rang across his soul – the promise of his vengeance and the fall of the cause of all of this pain, this misery, this endless, unforgiving darkness.

_My brother…_

Ryou rose to his feet, weakness left behind, the mask falling away. He embraced the darkness before him, letting it slip cool, soothing arms around him rage-heated body as he stepped into the split in reality and prepared to face an opponent more dangerous than any he and his friends had ever before seen.

_Himself._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Mer" is Egyptian for Friend.


	9. Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joey, Tea, and Yami continue on in their search for Yugi, but encounter opposition along the way and... Ryou? Meanwhile, Bakura battles the shadows that try to use him to destroy Tristan.

**Dark Summons**

**IX**

* * *

 

Tea had never seen Yami this broken before. It frightened her in a way that made her feel like a small child inside, but she couldn't give into that desire to cry. No, she had to be strong.

Joey was consoling Yami, or doing the best that he could. Tea could see that the blonde wasn't managing to get very far with the pharaoh, but every bit counted. While Joey took care of the broken boy, she would have to take the place that Yami usually occupied. She had to be strong. She had to keep leading them onward.

They would find Yugi; she swore it.

"Come on, Joey," she said, walking over to where Yami was still on his knees on the ground, Joey crouched down beside him. "We have to keep going."

"What's the point?" the pharaoh murmured.

Tea frowned, but she didn't say anything. Joey met her eyes, as though he wanted to ask the same question. He studied her gaze for a moment, but silently conceded.

"All right, pal," Joey said, standing up and pulling Yami to his feet, though the pharaoh did little to aid this action. "We're gonna keep goin', and we're gonna find Yug!"

Yami lifted his head slightly, dull, agony-drowned crimson eyes meeting Joey's. "Yugi's gone," he muttered.

Joey tightened his grip on the pharaoh. "Yami… we're gonna find him, all right?" He met the dark boy's wounded gaze. "Don't give up on Yug' yet, all right? He... he never gave up on us… never."

There was silence for a while, before Yami nodded. He didn't admit that he was wrong and that they would find Yugi safe, or thank Joey for having faith when he had lost his. He simply nodded.

Tea guessed… that was all they could really ask for, and they should be grateful for even that meager amount of hope left within the spirit of darkness.

With a sigh, she turned and headed off in the same direction that they had been heading the day before. The sun was just beginning to peak above the horizon and soon it would burn away the cool air.

Tea glanced back to see the two following; Joey looked concerned but determined, while Yami's walk was slow and weary. His shoulders seemed weighed down.

Tea closed her eyes. She couldn't hope to understand what Yami was going through. Yugi and Yami were connected; they were two separate entities, but their souls had become one over time. She had no magical gift with which to see spirits, but even she had become aware of such a transition.

Yugi was a dear friend of hers and, secretly, her crush. She had become aware, however, of the connection between the two that transcended mere friendship. She wasn't even sure that Yugi and Yami were aware of it, but she could tell.

And she found she was happy for them.

Now, though… now, she needed to find Yugi. She needed to find him, not just for his sake, but for Yami's, as well.

Because, just as she knew that their souls had become one, just as she knew that Yugi and Yami loved each other deeply, she also knew that if anything happened to Yugi, Yami… Yami would never survive the breaking of his own heart.

* * *

Bakura fought away the shadows, but they reached forward with determined hands. Chains of darkness wrapped around his wrists and ankles, holding him in place, bending him to the shadows' will. He was a puppet. He realized now that he had never been anything more than a puppet for the shadows to play with.

He was a meaningless doll as long as he was in the shadows' grasp, his true self trapped behind a porcelain mask.

The shadows laughed as he struggled with them. They cackled in his ears, amused by the screams that the rest of the world was deaf to. Bakura knew no one but the shadows could hear him, but he screamed on.

"Uhnnn… ouch, my back hurts…"

Bakura's eyes widened when the shadows' attention shifted to the other boy in the cavern, now waking from his slumber. The pointy-haired brunette yawned widely before opening his eyes. He blinked in surprise.

"Oh, um… hi, Bakura," he said, a faint blush forming over his cheeks. "Are you… uh… feeling better?"

_Stop it!_ Bakura screamed at the shadows. _Don't you dare hurt him! Don't you dare!_

He had grown rather fond of the boy; he even dared to admit such a thing to himself. He had never taken the time to notice before (or perhaps the shadows had never allowed him to see), but the boy was a kind-hearted youth. He reminded Bakura of someone… someone from his childhood… long, long ago.

The shadows knew this, of course. They knew all about him. They had been playing on his wants and fears for centuries now. They let the pain and anger from the day his village was slaughtered linger and consume his mind. They had destroyed everyone that he had ever cared about.

He didn't dare let it go on, but he had no powers with which to stop this swirling mass of darkness within himself. He could feel the shadow magic flickering to life at his fingerprints – life created so that it might destroy… what a paradox, so very much like humankind.

_STOP!_ he screamed.

The shadows only response was to laugh, as Bakura raised a hand toward Tristan, his fingertips dancing with death.

Tristan saw the hand, his eyes moving from it curiously to study Bakura's blazing eyes. Their gazes were locked for a time, until Tristan's jaw seemed to set, and he nodded silently, almost unnoticeably.

Bakura wanted to cry out, to scream, because he knew. Tristan _knew_! He saw the hand and he knew that he was staring not into the eyes of a friend, but into the face of Death.

And he did not turn away.

" _Bakura… be strong."_

Bakura's eyes widened. _Ryou…?_

Bakura's attention was roughly drawn back to reality when the shadows burst from his fingers.

* * *

"What the-" Joey ducked, barely managing to avoid the swinging blade. His Rude Kaiser had just been destroyed, and now Swordstalker had set its sights on him. He jumped to the side to avoid the downward slash.

From somewhere to his left, he heard Tea's high-pitched scream. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her leap away from the Koumori Dragon. The ferocious purple reptile showed no discrimination toward her gender.

Joey swore loudly as he wasn't quite fast enough to dodge the entirety of his attacker's next swing. The blade barely touched him, but blood rose to stain his clothing.

"Damnit!" he swore. "And dis was my fav'rite shirt, too!"

Swordstalker let out a grunt as he swung his blade again.

Meanwhile, Tea managed to reach her scattered cards on the ground and grabbed one at random. She held it outward toward Koumori Dragon. No matter how many times she did this (it had been five now, she recalled), she still worried that it wouldn't work. It _shouldn't_ work.

But she called out the card's name, anyway.

"Maha Vailo!"

The blue-clothed spellcaster burst forth from the card in a blinding white light. There was a fierce roar from Koumori Dragon, but the beautiful creature did away with it swiftly.

Tea heaved a quick sigh, before turning to check on her friends.

Joey, having had experience fighting on the streets, was now dodging Swordstalker's blade and alternating between punching him and kicking him. Despite the circumstances, Tea couldn't help but groan. _End of the world or not, same old Joey._

Tea turned to see Yami. He was standing behind Beaver Warrior, the burst of colors in front of the small creature telling Tea that he had just successfully destroyed his attacker.

Both he and Tea turned when they heard Joey yell.

The blonde had collapsed to his knees in front of his opponent, Swordstalker's blade raised high.

"Joey!" Tea screamed.

Yami whipped a card from his deck, barely glanced at it, and held it out. "Trap Hole!" he yelled. "Activate!"

The golden blade swung down. Joey's eyes were shut tight, awaiting death. A moment before the blade decapitated him, Swordstalker burst into rapid fragments of light.

Tea glanced back at Yami. The pharaoh was solemnly replacing his cards in his belt. Sighing, she walked over to her still-cowering friend. "Come on, Joey," she mumbled. "Let's get going."

"Oh… you're not going anywhere, my dear." The three of them looked up quickly. "Not without my escort, of course."

They stared, disbelieving.

" _Ryou?!_ "

* * *

Bakura screamed, straining against the bonds. Ryou's voice in his mind… he knew it had been his. It had sounded different, though, from when he had come across the boy in his dream-memory. He was sure they were not the same.

But then… what was going on? Did it have something to do with the shadows?

" _STOP!!!"_ he screamed, pulling back on the power, jerking the shadows away.

He thought he heard a strangled cry, but his eyes were closed tightly at the force of trying to reel in the shadow powers. They fought him for a long time, pulling against him, straining to escape and devour their prey. In the end, however, Bakura's will appeared too strong, and they faltered and finally retreated, sulking.

Bakura stood in the center of the cavern, gasping for breath, his arms hanging limply at his sides. He could feel heat all around him, burning with the remnants of the shadow's retreat. They were cold and his fight against them had been fires of both ice and its opposite.

"Bakura?"

Bakura raised his head to lock gazes with the brunette. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting. Part of him had anticipated being too late to save the boy, and instead finding a soulless corpse before him. Another part had assumed that he would see eyes filled with fear and hatred. He didn't expect the concern he saw echoing within those irises. He found that it both confused and pleased him.

"T-Tristan," he whispered, for once speaking the boy's name. He was surprised his mind had cared to remember it. He felt his mind and body sway in different directions, the world tilting sickeningly, but then there were arms wrapped around him. Bakura opened his eyes to find himself being held once again in Tristan's strong arms, staring up into a concerned face. "Th-thank you," he said softly.

Surprise bloomed in the brunette's gaze, but he did not scoff at the shift in personality. "What for?" he asked, instead.

"For being… my first friend," he whispered, and then let his consciousness slip away into sweet darkness.

* * *

"R-Ryou, what're you…"

Joey broke off at the high-pitched cackle that echoed from the Albino's pale lips. "What fools you humans are!" he laughed. "Two eyes and still you're blind!" He laughed again.

"Who are you, then," Yami demanded, "if you're not Ryou?"

"Oh, I'm Ryou," the boy assured him. "At least… in part." He grinned, his teeth glinting ferally. Tell me, Pharaoh, do you want to see your little light again?"

Yami's entire body tensed, his form going rigid. His eyes flickered a dangerous crimson very unlike the color they usually gleamed. "Yugi… WHERE IS HE?!" he snarled.

"Oh… here and there," the voice said mockingly, grinning like an ermine. "He's been helping me paint my walls." There was a cruel amusement in the voice that set a cold boulder of despair into the center of Yami's stomach. For some reason… for some reason, he couldn't help but think… he was too late…


	10. Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryou finally reveals that he has killed Yugi, and the others are consumed by their grief. Bakura and Tristan show up but can do little to help. The tables are only turned when another person shows up to help fight. But why are there two Ryous?

**Dark Summons**

**X**

* * *

 

He was amused, to say the very least.

Originally, he hadn't expected to be able to catch the pharaoh and his friends for another day. He _had_ told the pharaoh that he had three days to save his aibou. Of course, he'd killed the boy already, but he had been planning to destroy the boy before his friends reached him, anyway. He couldn't rightly have darkness _and_ light working together to destroy him.

Besides, without his light, the pharaoh was nothing.

He just hadn't shown him that, yet.

Once he had revealed to the pharaoh and his two idiotic friends that he was the one that held Yugi captive, it hadn't taken him long to get them to follow. Still, he _had_ taken certain precautions. Their Duel Monsters decks were now in his possession, and he had little use for them. The monsters were real here in the Shadow Realm, and he was the King of the Shadow Realm.

Hence, such pathetic children's toys were obsolete.

As he entered his cavern, he tossed the three card decks to the side, immediately putting them out of mind as they scattered across the stone floor.

He had left his three guests standing outside of the cavern. He knew they wouldn't leave. Not until they had their friend in their grasp.

Smirking softly, he rounded the corner and peered down at his previous guest. The boy's lifeless body was lying just as he had left it, limp and pale, dried brown blood caked around him in a sticky, reeking pool. Kneeling down, he caressed the boy's cold cheek with a gentle hand.

"Ah, Yugi, little light," he whispered to the corpse. "I have brought your pharaoh here and I will reunite the two of you." He smiled softly. "And I will enjoy watching him break before my eyes." He licked his lips lovingly. "His misery… it will taste _divine_."

He rose to his feet and turned his back to the soulless child, walking out of the chamber to rejoin his guests. He smiled, his teeth glinted in the wane light of the cavern. It was time he brought the pharaoh and his light back together, one last time.

* * *

The wind brought with it a bitter cold atop the mountain.

Bakura had woken up almost an hour before, to find that Tristan was no longer in the cavern. To his surprise, his first reaction had been to fear that the boy had run off in order to escape Bakura's presence while he slept.

His fears had been allayed not long after, however, when the guitar-playing brunette returned.

" _Here," Tristan said, tossing something his way._

_Bakura raised his hands and caught the flying fruit, peering down to see that it was a rosy apple. He glanced up at Tristan with questioning surprise, finding that he had already devoured half of his own breakfast and was eyeing the small pile of fruit hungrily._

_Glancing back down at his own offered meal, Bakura sank his teeth into the sweet flesh of the apple, peeling off a large chunk. He chewed it slowly, closing his eyes at the cool feel of the juices on his tongue. It had been a long time since he'd tasted something so… wonderful._

_When he opened his eyes, he found that Tristan was smiling at him, holding out another apple._

_Bakura returned the smile slowly, still unsure. He nodded his head in thanks and took the offered fruit; setting it in his lap as he continued to munch on his first apple. He watched in silence as Tristan studied the pile of food curiously, before deciding on a large yellow-skinned one. He tossed it in the air and caught it in his other hand, before sinking his bright teeth into its depths._

" _Tristan…"_

_The boy stopped his loud munching at the sound of his name, raising his eyes to study the Albino. He gave him a thoughtful look, his eyes questioning._

" _Why did you… um… stay?" Bakura asked hesitantly, looking down to avoid Tristan's questing mahogany eyes._

_He could not see his companion's smile, but he could hear it in his voice. "Because, Bakura," he assured the Albino, "you're my friend."_

The two now stood together on top of the mountain, gazing out across the vast landscape before them. The forest seemed to go on for half of an eternity, before merging with golden sands in the far-off distance.

Bakura couldn't see anything beyond the blinding glow of those familiar-looking sands, but there was something deep in his chest… some sort of pull on his heart. He knew that the desert beyond the forest was where he had to go. He didn't know where he would have to go within the desert, but he had a feeling that his heart would lead the way.

Funny, how he was following a part of him that he had forsaken all of his life, up until a few hours ago.

"Tristan."

The brunette moved to his side, following his gaze. He studied the landscape, though Bakura knew that the boy couldn't see it the same way that he could.

"We have to go there," Bakura said, nodding toward the distant sands.

"All right," Tristan said slowly. "And… how exactly are we going to do that?"

Bakura looked over at the brunette and smiled. "This is the Shadow Realm, Tristan," he assured his friend, pulling a card from his ever-on-hand deck. "You just leave this to me."

* * *

It was cold, dark, lifeless… it was a place of utter _non_ existence and it reached for him with cruel hands, trying to draw out the life within his soul.

He was fire, though, and light, and life – everything that the shadows could never hope to be. They would lust for him, always, but killing him a thousand times would never satiate their craving.

So he continued, wading through the shadows as one might wade through tar. It fought him every step of the way, but he was strong. He had purpose.

He had come too far to be stopped.

The shadows were nothing compared to him, and he would destroy every last one of them.

His crimson eyes narrowed. He could feel the lines of Fate crisscrossing and dancing a tango of death. Not long now… not long at all…

* * *

"Y-Yugi… Yugi…"

Joey was sitting on the ground, not quite comprehending the world around him. Only moments ago (or had it been hours already?), the Ryou-that-wasn't-Ryou had lead them deeper into the cavern, saying that it was time he returned Yugi to them.

Joey guessed they should have known from his smile that he had been playing a cruel joke. Still, he couldn't bring himself to believe… they were too late.

Tea was near him, sitting in much the same position as he, tears spilling from her eyes silently as she cried for her best friend. Even she, however, was in better shape than the pharaoh.

Yami had managed to reach Yugi's side before his legs gave out and he collapsed to the ground, his vision blinded by tears. He had pulled Yugi weakly into his arms, choking on a sob at the cold touch of his aibou's pale flesh. He'd wrapped his arms tightly around Yugi, pulling him into a crushing embrace and burying his face deep into the thick locks of Yugi's tri-colored hair.

And there he was, still.

His only movement had been the constant shaking of his body as he sobbed uncontrollably into his aibou's hair, desperately trying to shed enough tears to guilt the gods into bringing his Yugi back.

_His_ Yugi?

Oh, yes, of course. How could it not be so? Only now… only now did he realize it… now that it was too late.

"My aibou, my light, my Yugi, my life, my love…" Yami whispered the words lovingly against his love's cold, pale face. His touched his forehead to his aibou's, trying desperately to pull the death from the boy.

"I would give you my darkness, Aibou," he whispered, "if only it were strong enough to bring you back." He pulled back slightly, running his hand gently over Yugi's cold cheek. "But I am nothing… the darkness is death, Yugi. The darkness hasn't the power of life. Only you… only your light has ever had the power to… to give life." His closed his eyes, tears continuing to fall like an endless, unforgiving rain. "You gave me life, Yugi. Please… can't I… can't I somehow… give it back?"

"Oh, for the love of a _pharaoh_..." A deep, merciless chuckle followed the mocking claim, as the creature that appeared to be Ryou stepped out of the shadows. Yami raised his head, his eyes settling on the Albino. "Oh dear, Pharaoh, you don't look pleased." He smiled. "Of course, you certainly don't look quite so threatening with tear streaks on your face." He laughed again.

"Pharaoh!"

Yami didn't make much of a movement toward the new voice, but the others turned their heads swiftly to regard the newcomers. Joey and Tea gaped openly as Bakura and Tristan ran into the chamber, but it was their captor that broke the silence.

"How did you _survive_?!"

It was unclear who exactly he was speaking to, but he did not appear pleased in the least to see either of the two boys. Obviously, his shadows had not done the job they had been commanded to complete. His eyes narrowed. How… unfortunate.

"No matter," he said with a shrug. "I'll simply have to finish you off now." He raised his hand, shadows dancing eagerly at his fingertips. He licked his lips delicately. "Show me your fear," he whispered seductively. "I want to _taste_ it."

"Go to Hell!" Tristan snarled.

The Albino smirked. "Lead the way," he whispered, and thrust his hand forward.

His eyes widened when the shadows abruptly vanished. "Wha-what?!" he asked.

"You're sending no one to Hell today," a voice spoke from the shadows. "But you will be going there yourself."

Bakura felt his insides chill at the sound of that voice. He knew the voice. It was unmistakably Ryou, but it sounded so… so _cold_.

"Show yourself, _coward_!" the Albino cried.

The person within the shadows snorted. "Coward?" he asked. "Fitting, isn't it, that you call me that, seeing as we are the same, aren't we? _Not_ Ryou, but Ryou, nonetheless." The rhythmic sound of footsteps on stone echoed hauntingly through the chamber as the speaker exited the embrace of darkness' mask.

Bakura had known it was Ryou, but he couldn't help but gasp with the others at the sight his eyes beheld.

Stepping from the shadows was not the calm, kind-hearted boy that Bakura had possessed countless times or that the others had come to call friend. Rather, a creature stood in his place – one with a name that did not match the strange, unfamiliar face.

Flesh as pale as death, hair as white as snow, the boy stood with his head bowed, eyes shadowed by the darkness of his bangs. He was dressed in shadows, their forms contorted into tight black leather that hugged his body in an eternal embrace. The only color visible on his body but for the white of his hair and flesh and the black of his attire was the crimson blood that coated his hands.

As he raised his head, they saw that it matched his eyes perfectly.

The imposter Albino took a step back out of fear. "H-how… you can't be here!" he gasped. "It's… not possible…"

"Don't doubt me, Shadow," Ryou spoke, and his voice came out as cold and sharp as ice. His tone was unforgiving, his eyes burning with the fires of Hell's merciless wrath. "I am far more than you will ever be, and you know your fate is sealed." He locked eyes with the shadow-version of himself. "It was sealed long ago, when you chose to take control."

Bending forward suddenly, head lashing forward, the shadow-Ryou screamed loud and long – a vicious, demonic cry to express his hatred ten-fold. Bakura and Tristan staggered back, Joey and Tea moving to their feet and retreating to their friends. Yami pulled Yugi's body closer to him and hunkered down, as though to protect his aibou's lifeless corpse from further harm.

Ryou did not twitch.

"I WILL KILL YOU!" Shadow-Ryou roared. "I WILL DO WHAT I SHOULD HAVE DONE _YEARS_ AGO!"

Ryou's crimson eyes narrowed. "What's keeping you?"

At those words, the shadow lunged.

Shadow-Ryou launched himself forward, thrusting his hand forward, darkness bursting forth from his fingertips. They could only stare in utter shock and disbelief, as Ryou raised a hand almost lazily toward his opponent. There was an oppressive pulsation in the air, like thunder imploding. The darkness heading his way evaporated immediately, and Shadow-Ryou let out an inhuman shriek as he was sent flying in the opposite direction.

He crashed into the walls, the rock crumbling at the force. He groaned from his position on the ground, and they saw to their horror that the walls were _bleeding_.

The crimson hieroglyphics that had decorated the expanse of the cavern had melted, the blood they had been written with leaking through the cracks and soaking into Shadow-Ryou's skin.

He screamed, jerking away from the walls, wiping at his arms feverishly.

He was sent flying back into the wall by another pulsating blast.

"I dun get it," Joey muttered. "How can Ryou fight dis guy?"

Bakura didn't have an answer. He remained silent, watching the fight. He couldn't… he felt as though he knew less than the others. At least they had dared to call Ryou friend.

He had only ever called him _Host_.

But the look in Ryou's eyes… it was horrifying. It was everything that Bakura had ever been, and more. Utter, unforgiving rage.

_Everything I felt after… after my village…_

Was Ryou letting the darkness consume him?

Bakura closed his eyes, seeking out the strange bond within him. He had… he had never tried to speak to his host before to do anything but give him a command. Now, however, he felt… he was ready to _beg_.

" _Ryou…"_

Ryou's head jerked up, just as the pulsating blast of thunder sent the Shadow-Ryou flying again. His eyes seemed to shimmer oddly, dulling to a softer pink.

"… _B-Bakura…?"_

" _Ryou…"_ Bakura swallowed hard. He could feel Ryou's pain… the anger, hatred, sorrow, fear, agony… all of it, rushing forth and trying to consume him. _"Ryou… don't… don't do this…"_

He saw the frown on Ryou's face, felt it through the link. Confusion.

" _Why not? I thought you… would be proud of me?"_

Bakura felt a pain somewhere deep within his chest. _"I…"_ He closed his eyes. _"Ryou… this isn't you. This is… the shadows are controlling you, Ryou."_

" _WHAT?!"_ Bakura flinched at the powerful roar, stumbling back at the force of the cry. _"Is there nothing I can do to please you,_ Master _?!"_ he snarled. _"Can't I do anything right?! Even when I follow in your ways, dancing in destruction and death, it's not_ me _that's doing it?! Aren't I strong enough, Bakura? WILL I ALWAYS BE WEAK TO YOU?!"_

Rage. Unrelenting, all-consuming rage.

Bakura gasped, staggering at the force of it. He collapsed to his knees, breaking off the link. He tried to block it out. Tried to force it away. It came harder still, despite his attempts to drive it back. It rushed at him in waves, bowling him over as effortlessly as a monsoon pushed a newspaper. It tore into him like the claws of a bloodthirsty lion. He was nothing next to the force of this… this…

Light.

Bakura's eyes opened wide at the realization. Rage still struck him. Fires still burned his flesh. It bit and scratched and tore into him… eating away the darkness…

Light.

"R-Ryou…" he gasped. "Wha-what… are you?"

Staggering to his feet, blood running down his face, Shadow-Ryou stepped forward, laughing. "Haven't you figured it out yet, you fools?" He cackled madly, his eyes turning to settle on his opponent.

Ryou stood in the center of the chamber, arms stiff at his sides, head bowed, eyes shadowed. His entire body was tense and an aura of unforgivable power was rushing around him like a cyclone of godliness. It made his flesh glow, his white hair dance.

Bakura felt his breath catch at the sight. "Ryou…"

He closed his eyes and felt a tear slide down his cheek. _"You look… like an angel…"_

Shadow-Ryou laughed cruelly. "Yes… the Angel of Death."

Bakura raised his head swiftly, eyes locking with the dark being. He was smiling cruelly back. "Didn't think I could hear your thoughts, did you, _Bakura_?" He cackled. "I assure you, I can. Do you know why?"

He smiled darkly at their silence. "Because I," he said, placing a hand over his heart, "am _Ryou_." He flashed his teeth in an ermine-grin. "At least… I am _half_ of him."

Tristan's mahogany eyes narrowed. "What do you mean _half_?"

Shadow-Ryou chuckled as he turned to Ryou. "Are you going to retain your temper long enough for me to explain, Light?" he asked, his voice filled with cruel laughter.

Ryou's eyes narrowed angrily. The waves of power and rage continuing to boil around him, but he made no move to attack. Smiling, Shadow-Ryou turned back to them.

"I am Ryou," he explained in a haughty tone. "Or… I _was_ Ryou, before he cast me out of himself."

"He _cast you out_?" Tristan asked.

Shadow-Ryou glared at him but felt Ryou's power surge at his thoughts. Instead of following the instincts of rage and killing Tristan on the spot, he enacted his instincts of self-preservation and continued his story.

"Have you ever asked Ryou why he never visits his mother?"

Bakura felt a pulse inside of him, somewhere within his soul. His eyes moved to Ryou. The boy's emotionless expression hadn't changed, but there was a sadness present within the link…

Bakura gripped the Millennium Ring within his fingers tightly, somehow knowing he would need its strength.

"Years ago," Shadow-Ryou continued, "there was an accident. A man driving drunk down the highway, intoxicated almost to the point of being unconscious, pushing its car to the very limit. He was swerving senselessly through the street, uncaring, _unseeing_. He hit a little girl crossing the street behind her older brother – the boy who had promised to protect her, no matter what." He chuckled darkly, a maniacal gleam flashing in his crimson eyes. "The boy that failed to keep his promise – failed to protect his little sister – was Ryou."

Bakura choked on the feeling that welled up inside of him. His hand clutched at his chest beyond the ring, trying to will out the utter agony dwelling there. He felt like his very heart was going to tear itself from his chest.

And if it didn't soon, he was sure he was going to do it himself.

"The girl was taken to the hospital. How she managed to survive the impact is… a mystery still. But there was no hope for her. They knew that before the ambulance reached her. There was too much damage… too much blood. She was conscious the entire ride to the hospital, holding her brother's hand, telling him to be strong for reasons he is still unsure of."

Tea was on her knees in agony, tears rolling down her cheeks at the story. Every so often, Shadow-Ryou would break off his tale with a cackle of glee, and such an inhuman sound would bring forth another sob from within her. How could someone be so cruel?!

Joey was holding her shoulders tightly, fighting back his own emotions to help keep her calm as best he could. But… Gods, Ryou… Joey had a little sister… if that had ever happened to Serenity, he didn't… he couldn't have survived it…

How could Ryou have withstood such pain?

"His mother and father met him at the hospital, rushing in to see their daughter. His mother fled her room minutes afterwards in tears, his father pale and speechless. No one knows what their daughter said to draw such a reaction, but the two didn't return to her room.

"Only Ryou was present when she finally died, hours after lying there, basking in the arms of darkness, the embrace of death's call. She had been waiting for Ryou, you see; waiting for the Angel of Death."

Bakura hit his knees, wrapping both of his arms around his torso. He thought he could hear someone screaming, but he didn't know if the voice was in his mind or if the raw feeling ripping through his throat signified that he was the one letting out such an ethereal shriek.

Moments later, the screaming was cut off abruptly, and Bakura lunged forward as he emptied his stomach of all its contents. Pain, agony... it tore through his soul, ripping into him like claws, shredding his insides. Bakura heaved again, this time releasing blood onto the floor.

He felt arms wrap around him, someone pulling him back against their chest, embracing him tightly. He cried out in pain as the agony tore through his soul, devouring him. He sobbed uncontrollably, not caring who saw the tears running down his cheeks. This pain… nothing compared to it… _nothing_. It was worse than anything he had ever felt before, and he knew why. The shadows weren't here to dull the pain anymore. They weren't here to turn the agony into rage that could be used to manipulate him. Now… now there was only pain… only utter, unrelenting, all-consuming, unforgiving pain.

"… _Ryou…"_

" _Bakura… be strong…"_

Arms pulled him tightly against someone's chest and he buried his face into the smooth flesh of whoever offered him comfort. He didn't care who it was. Someone was offering him what he needed… everything that he had so desperately needed for so long.

He closed his eyes, tears rolling down his cheeks as he bit back the screams. The arms tightened around him, caring, protective…

_You're not alone…_

"After Amane was buried," Shadow-Ryou continued, as though there had been no interruption, "the happy family that had once been was no longer. Ryou's father rarely spent any time at home, and when he did, he was too busy drinking or fighting with his wife to care for the son who so desperately needed comforting.

"His wife was no better. Although she stayed at home, she might as well have not been there. Whenever she did interact with Ryou, her words were short, crisp, _uncaring_. She held no love for the boy who had failed to protect her daughter – the only child who had ever mattered to her.

"And one day, she told him this."

Bakura felt the arms tighten around him as he let out a whimper. The pain had increased again, biting at him, snapping like starving piranhas. They had been waiting an eternity for a meal, and here he was, finally.

"Ryou's reaction was certainly not what she had been expecting." Shadow-Ryou broke off with a laugh. "You see… Ryou here is not _normal_ , as you would say. Rather, he has an ancient power buried deep within his heart that few can boast to have seen. That is, actually, due to the fact that most who see it _die_. Quite abruptly, I might add.

"Psychics, after all, don't usually realize that they have this power until emotional trauma awakens it. Unfortunately for Ryou's mother, her words were the alarm clock to these tardy powers." He grinned viciously. "If only Ryou's father had been home, both of them could have been killed. Sadly, he was at the bar at the time, and managed to survive the blast.

"In a way, though, you can say that the powers managed to kill two people that day. Ryou's mother… and _me_."

"You?!" Joey gasped, finally speaking. "But… _you're_ Ryou! He's not dead!"

Shadow-Ryou laughed. "Oh, yes and no, Joseph Wheeler. You see, Ryou is only half of a person, just as I am only half of a person. When his mother opened her big mouth and blamed him for his baby sister's death, she awakened his powers. After years of slumbering within the soul of a child, however, these powers were quite eager to be set free.

"A child would normally never wish any harm to their parents, no matter what had been done to them. In order to fulfill their desire, the powers had to put Ryou into a trance. Once he was nothing more than a puppet within their grasp, they were easily able to shred that woman to pieces."

He smiled proudly. "Naturally, once little Ryou woke from his trance and realized what had happened – what _he_ had done – he was horrified. How could he have such powers? How could he do such a thing to his own mother? He hated himself. He hated himself so deeply, that he ripped himself in two."

Shadow-Ryou gave a graceful bow. "I am the half of Ryou that he condemned to eternal suffering. I am the part of him that contains every last fiber of hatred, anger, revulsion, and ill-will to any and every creature within the confines of the Mortal Realm. I… am _Shadow_." He spun and pointed at Ryou. "I am _your_ shadow, Ryou Bakura! You! You, who thought you could rid the world of me!" He threw his head back and laughed. "What a fool, little Ryou! You've doomed yourself! Certainly, you may have saved your father from my wrath, but I have become a king here in the Shadow Realm. The darkness dances to my every whim. I am a _god_ , Ryou, and you…" He laughed giddily. "You, little child of light, are _nothing_ compared to me."

He raised his hand, fingers laced with darkness. "And now, I kill you."


	11. Eleven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryou and Shadow Ryou are locked in a desperate battle, but how can either of them win when they're the same person? Is there any chance at all for this to end well?

**Dark Summons**

**XI**

* * *

 

Time during Shadow Ryou's story seemed to have moved so slowly, life crawling by at the pace of a sloth.

When darkness burst from Shadow Ryou's fingertips, however, the world leapt forward like an eager stallion.

Ryou brought his arms up, hands balled into fists before his face protectively. A sheen of blue seemed to swirl around his arms and the darkness simmered at its touch, though the force still pushed Ryou back a few steps.

"I am not going to be defeated this time, Ryou," Shadow Ryou snarled, thrusting his hand forward again. Ryou leapt to the side and flung an arm behind him, a pulsating blast causing the boomeranging ball of darkness to disintegrate. "You may have been strong before, but that was when I was in control." He sneered as he continued to walk forward, Ryou keeping their distance by retreating at a similar pace. "You are nothing without me."

He spun suddenly, twirling on his left foot, before thrusting both hands out before him, fingers splayed. The darkness seemed to dance to an unheard tune, perhaps frolicking to the rage that made up Shadow Ryou's form. They burst forth eagerly, snapping and snarling at the light in the cavern, eating it up as they rushed toward their prey.

Spreading his legs suddenly, Ryou took a balanced stance and raised both of his hands. He braced himself, his entire body going tense, as the darkness reached him.

Snarling, their shadowy tendrils seemed to strike a wall. Although they fought against the invisible force, they were held back from digging into Ryou and devouring his soul by the force of the shield he had brought up before him.

 _A shield of light?_ Bakura wondered, lifting his head from the protection of Tristan's chest to stare at the darkness' shrieking mouths.

" _Yes."_

Bakura twitched in surprise. He felt Tristan's arms tighten around him protectively, but he made no move to acknowledge the action. He stared at Ryou, who was watching him out of the corner of his eye. Bakura had a shield up to block the mind link, since Shadow Ryou could also hear the words he intended for Ryou. But then how-

" _I am psychic, Bakura,"_ came Ryou's response, a smile in his words. _"I don't need the mind-link to hear your thoughts. I don't need it to speak to you."_

Even as he was talking to Bakura, Ryou was fighting with Shadow Ryou. He dodged the darkness thrown his way, occasionally raising a shield to try and block an attack he couldn't escape. Bakura watched as he thrust his own pale hand forward, imploding thunder tossing the shadow version of himself across the room.

Still, he rose again to his feet.

 _Do you have enough power to defeat him?_ Bakura wondered.

Ryou closed his eyes, as though in pain, dodging another ball of shadows without needing to see it coming. _"I… can someone hope to overcome themselves?"_

Bakura felt something within him shudder in both surprise and fear. The implications of that single statement… Shadow Ryou and the Ryou that Bakura had come to know where _one_ _being_.

So if one died, did the other…

" _I don't know."_ Bakura studied Ryou's face for an emotion, but the boy had a mask up to hide his true feelings for the situation. It frightened Bakura that he was able to hold such a face. He wondered how long Ryou had held such an ability, and if Bakura shouldn't have noticed it before.

_I should have noticed a lot of things before._

" _I'm good at hiding things,"_ Ryou admitted, thrusting his arms out and then jerking them back in suddenly. With a cry of anger and alarm, Shadow Ryou was hit in the back by a psychic force and thrown over Ryou's shoulder, landing somewhere behind him.

" _It's not your fault. It's mine,"_ Ryou continued, turning to regard his opponent's position against another crumbling rock. Bakure frowned but didn't get a chance to ask what Ryou meant before he was graced with a response. _"Now isn't the time. I'll explain… eventually."_ He ducked under another attack, throwing his hands out and shoving Shadow Ryou against the wall.

_Eventually._

Bakura couldn't contain the shiver that raced through him at the word. He didn't have an explanation for the cold feeling that ran like liquid up his spine, but it brought with it fear and pain.

Would there be an _eventually_?

" _Be strong, Bakura…"_

Funny. He always thought he was strong. It was strange. Without the shadows… he was nothing.

" _No, Bakura,"_ Ryou assured him, his tone caring and so full of light. _"Without the shadows, you are more than you could ever have hoped to be. It is my fault that you are only half alive."_ He closed his crimson eyes, a soft smile on his lips. _"But that… that will be remedied soon."_

_What do you mean?_

" _Be strong."_

_Ryou?_

Ryou ducked another ball of shadows thrown his way, pushing his hand outward and throwing Shadow Ryou off of his feet.

_Ryou?_

But the Albino did not answer Bakura's thoughts, and he grew more worried. In the past fifteen minutes, he had learned more about Ryou than he had ever thought possible. Now, the Albino was in a fight with _himself_.

Bakura couldn't let him just fight alone, no matter how powerful he might be.

Pulling away from Tristan slightly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the first card his fingers came in contact with. He smiled upon seeing the angel's beautiful face.

Raising the card, he cried out, "Change of Heart! Take over Sha-"

" _NO!"_

Bakura faltered. _R-Ryou…?_

" _No, Bakura,"_ Ryou said, his tone commanding. _"This is my fight."_

_But-_

" _It was always my fight. I have to defeat him. If you help me… if you help me, Bakura, I'll never be free."_

 _Freedom._ He knew what it was like, to desire freedom – to need it like you needed air. Lowering his hand, he slipped the card back into his pocket.

He could feel Ryou's smile.

" _Thank you."_

Bakura swallowed, hoping he wouldn't regret that decision.

" _Don't worry."_

_I can't help it._

He thought he heard Ryou chuckle as he ducked beneath another attack, but he couldn't be sure. There was no emotion upon the Albino's face as he spun and thrust his hands out, flinging Shadow Ryou into a wall.

As he impacted the crumbling wall, blood spilling over his flesh from the bleeding stone, Shadow Ryou screamed. He jerked away from the wall, staggering drunkenly, wiping furiously at the blood coating his arms. He managed only to smear it further across his flesh, however, as there was far too much of it to be wiped away.

The scent of burning flesh reached Bakura's nose. Why did the blood burn him?

" _It is Yugi's blood."_

Bakura went rigid, his eyes traveling to Yami, who still clutched the corpse of his light tightly to his chest. He felt a burning sensation behind his eyes at the look of utter defeat flowing from Yami's form.

" _He wrote spells upon the walls in the stolen life force of my brother,"_ Ryou snarled, and the venom in his tone was unmistakable. _"Now he will suffer the burn of the blood he has spilt."_

_Ryou…_

" _Bakura, be strong. It will be over soon."_

 _How do you know?_ He watched Ryou side-step another ball of shadows.

" _Trust me."_

… _I do._

Ryou smiled, and Bakura saw it on his face. He watched the corners of his lips turn up slightly, his eyes glow with a fire Bakura hadn't ever seen before. Something… something had changed.

" _I just needed to know,"_ Ryou whispered into his mind. _"I just needed to know that you trusted me."_

Bakura felt a cold hand slip into his stomach and turn everything within him into ice. _… why?_ He noticed that Shadow Ryou seemed to be growing desperate. Drenched from head to foot in blood – both Yugi's and his own – he was throwing balls of darkness carelessly; tossing more before he was aware if the previous had struck its target or not.

"STAND STILL!" Shadow Ryou screamed angrily.

" _I just needed to know that you would trust me... to do what I must do."_

 _Do… what?_ Bakura was afraid to ask. Ryou sounded so… final. _What has to be done? Ryou? Ryou!?_

" _I know things, Bakura. Sometimes, I know things before they happen… long before they happen."_ He sounded so sad. _"I knew that this was coming. I know how this will end. There's just one thing I never knew… one thing I never counted on…"_

Bakura pulled away from Tristan, surprising the brunette. "Ryou?" he whispered, staring at the Albino. He pushed up from the floor, staggering toward the boy, ignoring Tristan's quiet protests. "R-Ryou… what're you… what-"

"If I can't have him, then I'll take you instead!" Shadow Ryou snarled suddenly.

"BAKURA! WATCH OUT!" Tristan screamed from behind him.

Bakura turned his attention from the calm face of the boy he had once called _Host_ , to see a ball of darkness bursting forth from the fingers of the shadow who had caused all of this.

"BAKURA!"

He wasn't quite sure who had screamed his name and who hadn't. A number of voices had coalesced into one shriek of his name. How strange, to have people suddenly care for the person who had caused them so much harm in the past.

" _It's not your fault. It's mine…"_

" _It is my fault that you are only half alive…"_

" _I just need to know that you would trust me…"_

" _Sometimes, I know things before they happen… long before they happen. I knew that this was coming. I know how this will end. There's just one thing I never knew… one thing I never counted on…"_

"… _I love you, Bakura."_

Bakura's eyes went wide. "Ryou…"

A sharp pain in his side, Bakura cried out in surprise as he was thrust violently away from where he had been standing. He landed hard on the ground feet away, raising his head in time to lock eyes with the boy he had possessed… the boy who could have escaped him at any moment, had he wanted to.

Ryou's soft pink eyes were dancing with emotion as he stared into Bakura's slate grey orbs. He smiled, and Bakura heard the whisper in his mind.

" _Thank you… trust me… I love you…"_

And then the ball of darkness brushed past his every defense, and consumed him entirely.

Shadow Ryou let out a hideous shriek. It was not a scream of anger at missing his intended target, or one of victory at striking down the only opponent he had ever wanted from the beginning. It was a cry of utter agony, ripped from him as though it had been dug out of his soul by the very claws of Death herself.

His head was thrown back as the shriek echoed off of the walls. Blood ran down from the walls in rivers of crimson, flowing into the center of the chamber and coalescing around the barely-standing Albino. He had his hands digging into his hair, trying to rip out the pain but only managing to cause more.

The blood pooling around him began to run up his legs. He screamed louder, if possible, his body convulsing in wild agony, as the blood found open wounds and seeped in beneath his flesh. Smoke rolled off of him in waves, fires dancing beneath his flesh. Yugi's blood was claiming its revenge for what had been stolen.

His legs finally gave way, the monster collapsing to his knees as he shook, his flesh melting from his bones as though he were roasting over open flames. The skin dripped like wax to the floor, seeping down into the ground to be lost in the forgetful grains of dirt.

There was one final, terror-ridden shriek, and then he collapsed fast-first to the ground, silenced forever.

For a moment, the cavern mimicked his silence. Not a word was spoken, a leg twitched, a noisy breath drawn. Then, realization dawned, and Bakura let out a strangled cry as he rushed to Ryou's side.

"R-Ryou," he whispered, hitting his knees at the sight of the Albino.

Ryou was lying on his back on the dirt floor, his arms and legs covered in cuts and bruises. His left hand was clutching at a bleeding wound on his stomach, while the other hovered over his rapidly rising and falling chest.

His eyes scanned the immediate area, taking in the state of his friends, making sure that everyone was all right. Then, they settled their soft crimson gaze back on Bakura, and he smiled.

"You're… all right," he murmured weakly.

"Stupid!" Bakura snarled. "What'd you do that for?"

Ryou chuckled lightly, though the action obviously caused him pain. "I… told you… why," he mumbled. He opened his eyes again and they shone with the answer. "Love you… Bakura," he whispered.

"Love you, too, Host," Bakura said.

Ryou smiled at the joking insult, closing his eyes tiredly. "I'm glad," he whispered. "I was worried… you would… hate me."

Bakura shook his head. "Impossible."

Ryou smiled. "Well… we'll see… I'm not through… yet." He coughed suddenly, his breathing growing more erratic. "Ow," he mumbled.

"R-Ryou," Bakura stammered. "L-Look at me… please."

Ryou opened his eyes weakly. "I'm… still here," he whispered.

Bakura bit his lip. "Ryou… don't-"

"Don't worry," Ryou assured him softly. "I… told you. Everything's going to be… okay." He smiled. "I told you… I know how this… ends." He closed his eyes. "J-Just a few… more minutes and… and you won't… you won't be half a… person… anymore."

"R-Ryou!" Bakura gasped. "Ryou, what're you saying?!"

Ryou smiled. "Y-You'll… see." He opened his eyes, regarding Bakura with a look of utter happiness. "Thank you… for… trusting me." He grinned. "It means… a lot."

"Ryou! Ryou, please! Don't… don't go away!"

"I'm just gonna… take a… nap."

"RYOU!" Bakura screamed as Ryou closed his eyes. "Ryou, don't you dare leave me! I can't handle this on my own! I can't!" He reached out and pulled Ryou to him, hugging the boy close to his body. "R-Ryou… I can't… I'm not strong enough… without you…" He sniffled but didn't bother to fight the tears that rolled down his cheeks. "I'm nothing without you. Darkness is nothing… without the light."

In his arms, he could feel Ryou's chest rising and falling quickly as the boy gasped for breath. He could feel his heart beating erratically, trying to keep him going. He could feel Ryou's smile against his chest, even as the boy's body failed around him.

"Stupid… Bakura," Ryou whispered against him. "How do you think… I beat… him? How do you think I… could ever… win?" He cracked open his eyes just enough to look into Bakura's face. "Bakura… the darkness _is_ light…"

He smiled softly at Bakura's tense disbelief, releasing a tired chuckle. "Love you… baka," he whispered, and went limp in Bakura's arms.

"Ryou?" Bakura asked, shaking the boy. He swallowed hard. "Ryou? Ryou!" He shook the Albino, but the boy's head just tossed limply from side to side. Bakura let out a sob, his shoulders shaking with the force of it, as tears rolled down his cheeks like blood had escaped the walls. "Ryou," he sobbed. "Ryou!"

He hugged the boy close to him, unwilling to let go. He screamed in anger and pain, as he felt Ryou's body soften in his grasp. He heard the others gasp and pulled his head back enough to see Ryou's body glowing softly, slowly disappearing into thin air.

"Stop it!" he cried, sobbing. "STOP IT! DON'T TAKE HIM FROM ME!! DON'T! Don't…" he sobbed. "Don't…"

But Ryou's body eventually all disappeared, leaving Bakura sobbing on the dirt floor, holding onto nothing but a memory and a softly sobbed name.

Silence consumed the cavern once again, broken only by the shattered sobs of Bakura and the occasional utterance of Ryou's name. Even Yami, still clutching Yugi's lifeless body to his chest, was completely silent.

When silence finally was shattered, it was done by a single drop of blood.

The final tear-shaped drop dripped from the wall, landing on the floor with an echoing _blip_. The moment that the crimson tear touched the dirt, a beautiful blue light consumed the cavern, a portal opening before them.

"Is that… the way out?" Tea whispered, daring to break their spoken silence.

"Yes," Yami muttered emotionlessly. He raised his head enough to see the glowing rift, but then lowered it again into his aibou's hair.

Tristan sighed, rising to his feet. He was followed closely by Joey and Tea. "Come on, guys," he said slowly, sorrow weighing down his words. "Let's get out of here."

For a long time, no one spoke or moved. Then, Yami said quietly, "I'm not leaving."

"Wha-what?!" Joey gasped. "Look, Yami, I know yer hurt, but ya can't stay here, man. Dis is da Shadow Realm. It'll… it'll eat ya, pal."

Yami shook his head. "I can't leave Yugi, Joey. His soul… it's still here. I can _feel_ it. I can't… I can't go back without him." His buried his face into Yugi's wild hair. "So I'll stay here, where I can be here with him, forever."

"Yami…" Tea whispered, tears leaking from her eyes.

"Yami," Tristan said, stepping forward. "You can't… Yugi's gone. You should… you should live _for_ him. He'd… he'd want that."

Yami shook his head sadly. "No, Tristan. I can't." He raised his head, looking at them with eyes strangely devoid of tears. "I'm already dead. My body just doesn't know it yet." He smiled grimly. "But it'll learn… soon enough."

"I'm not leaving, either," Bakura mumbled, and the others looked at him. He was still crouched on the floor, staring at the ground. The dirt beneath his eyes had turned to mud at the strength of his tears. "You should go… before the portal closes."

"Bakura, Yami… we can't-"

Tristan's hand on Tea's shoulder silenced her. "They've made their decision, Tea," he said softly. "We… it's their choice."

Tea opened her mouth to argue, but closed it after she was unable to find the words to say. Lowering her eyes, a tear slipped down her cheek, before she turned away.

Tristan looked back at the two boys, his eyes clouded. "Are you guys… you're _sure_?" he whispered.

"There's nothing left for us back there," Yami whispered. "I'm sorry, but… without Yugi…" He shook his head, unable to complete the thought.

"We are nothing without them," Bakura said, "no matter what they say."

Tristan nodded solemnly. "I'd… I guess, there's really nothing to say," he muttered.

"Yeah der is," Joey said, stepping forward. Yami and Bakura both raised their heads, expected to be yelled at. Joey studied their broken faces for a long time, before nodding as well. "Good-bye," he said simply.

Yami's gaze softened. "Good-bye, Joey," he whispered.

Bakura lowered his gaze back to the ground. "Bye."

Tristan nodded and turned around, herding Joey over to where Tea stood. "Come on, guys. It's time to go home."

The trio's walk to the portal was interrupted by an angry snarl.

Out of the shadows stepped Summoned Skull, the ferocious skeleton fiend. His eyes locked onto the trio trying to leave.

"No one's going anywhere."


	12. Twelve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The duelists have to fight the monsters within the Shadow Realm that are keeping them from getting home. It's not going well, but there is hope yet. There is always hope.

**Dark Summons**

**XII**

* * *

 

"No one is going anywhere."

The purple and white skeletal demon seemed to glow with ferocious energy as he stepped from the shadows, demonic wings spread behind him. He was glaring with fierce aquamarine eyes at the trio who had dared to move toward the swirling portal.

"I'm afraid we cannot permit you to leave this realm, Humans."

From the shadows behind Summoned Skull, more Duel Monsters began to appear. He was joined by Swordstalker, Koumori Dragon, Ancient Brain, and Blue Eyes White Dragon.

Swordstalker took one look at them and let out a hissing laugh. "This will be fun."

Joey narrowed his eyes, his jaw clenching. "Dis sucks," he muttered.

"Haven't we established that already?" Tea asked, trying to hold back her fear in their current situation. It certainly didn't look good.

"Man… now what're we gonna do?" Tristan muttered, wondering if they had a chance at all of surviving this.

"Ain't it obvious?" Joey asked, meeting Tristan's gaze before turning back to face the monsters. "We fight." Running over to the wall of the chamber, he caught sight of the cards that had been tossed there unceremoniously by Shadow Ryou. He swiftly scooped one up and looked at it, a grin stealing his face. "Perfect!" he said, holding his card up. "Let's go! Flame Swordsman!"

The card in his hand began to glow with white light, and then fires danced teasingly around Joey's hand. He cried out in surprise at first, only to discover that the flames didn't burn him. A moment later, a familiar figure appeared before Joey, dressed in armor and wielding a sword of flames. He fell into a protective stance before Joey.

"All right! Flame Swordsman, let's get dis party started!" He pointed toward their opponents. "Let's take out da trash! Attack dat Ancient Brain!"

With a grunt of approval, Flame Swordsman dashed forward. Swordstalker swung his sword down, but the warrior darted out of the way and then took a flying leap at the old furry man. With a single slash of his sword, Ancient Brain burst into fragments and disappeared.

Flame Swordsman darted back to Joey's side, awaiting further orders.

Tea had run over to the pile of haphazardly-thrown cards and had sorted them back into three separate piles. Slipping her own back into her pocket, she kept out a single card, which she held before her, facing out toward her opponents.

"I'm with you, Joey!" she announced in agreement. "I summon Dark Magician Girl!"

The card erupted into a cloud of light, the familiar blue-armored magician appearing in the air. She floated through the sky, stumbling momentarily before righting herself and facing her opponents with a glare.

"Dark Magician Girl," Yami murmured softly.

Head rising, the young witch seemed to hear Yami, for she turned to study him. Her eyes moved to the boy clutched in his arms and her gaze softened in sorrow. She returned her gaze to his face, her eyes studying his for a long moment, before she nodded silently and turned back to face the horde of Duel Monsters standing between the trio and their escape back to reality.

Yami looked down at Yugi, his face so pale, his flesh cold to the touch. He sighed softly. "Yugi," he whispered, closing his eyes. "I will never leave you, Aibou, but I must help them escape. Tristan, Joey, Tea… after all that they have done for me, I won't let them be trapped here." He opened his eyes and smiled down at Yugi's still form, admiring how beautiful his face was, even in death. "One more duel," he murmured softly, "before I let the shadows take me back to you."

Bending down, he touched his lips softly to Yugi's, before laying his light gently on the floor of the cavern. Slowly, he rose to his feet and turned to face the mass of Duel Monsters glaring in their direction.

"This ends now!" he declared proudly. "Let my friends through, or we will _make_ you!"

Throwing back his head, Summoned Skull roared with demonic laughter. "Do you really think you have a chance, _Pharaoh_?!" He laughed long and hard. "Guess again! We will destroy you! Koumori Dragon! Swordstalker! Take them down!"

"My pleasure," Swordstalker hissed, while Koumori Dragon roared agreeably. The purple dragon launched himself into the air, while the sword-wielding fiend rushed toward them, sword raised above his head.

"Tea!" Yami called, bounding to her side. She handed him his deck before he had a chance to ask for it. Nodding in thanks, he drew the top card and glanced at it momentarily, before holding it high in the air. "It's time we end this!" he called out regally. "Come forth! Dark Magician!"

The card glowed fiercely, releasing the form of the Dark Magician into the depths of the cavern. Ever loyal, the purple-clothed mage settled before Yami protectively, spinning his staff in a decisive manner.

"Destroy Swordstalker, quickly!" Yami cried. "Dark Magic Attack!"

Dark Magician obliged, raising his right hand, fingers splayed. His eyes narrowed as he called forth his black magic.

"White Lightning Attack!"

"Wha-" Yami cried, but he was too late to do anything. The fierce crackling power of the attack shot through the air, striking down Dark Magician instantly. There was a cruel laughter from across the cavern, and Blue Eyes White Dragon roared in victory.

"Dark Magician," Yami whispered, staggering forward in shock. He turned, his crimson eyes traveling back to Yugi's silent form, lying on the ground some feet away. He narrowed his eyes as the tears threatened to come forth again. "Damnit!" he snarled. "Dark Magician was Yugi's favorite card! HOW DARE YOU DESTROY HIM!"

The others looked over him sorrowfully. They could all see that Yami was suffering greatly, hiding his pain behind a mask of anger. Joey followed where Yami's gaze had focused and he looked at his best friend. It was still so hard to believe that he was gone…

It was almost ironic that the Dark Magician had followed his destruction. That card was more than just Yugi's favorite; the Dark Magician could be said to represent Yugi's very soul.

Joey looked down at the card he had just drawn, his eyes widening in surprise. No way… it couldn't work… but…

 _Yugi always said to trust in the Heart of the Cards,_ Joey thought, eyes narrowing. _Yug… I hope this works._ Raising his hand into the air, he called out loudly, "Monster Reborn!" He closed his eyes, willing his cards not to fail him. "Bring… Bring back Yugi… as the Dark Magician!"

"WHAT?!"

All around him, friend and foe, turned to regard the teen with looks of disbelief. How could Joey hope to… but… they _were_ in the Shadow Realm.

The white light surrounding the card danced and waved, twisting and turning over itself like a wind-swept spider web. Slowly, the light began to take shape, the translucent form of the Dark Magician appearing amidst the glow.

The magician's eyes were closed and he hovered in the air as though he were sleeping deeply. Slowly, the light moved across the room, carrying the Dark Magician with it. The slumbering wizard was positioned over the body of Yugi, his appendages moving until his posture mirrored that of Yugi's. Then, the light softly lowered the magician, until his ghost-like form disappeared into the body of the young boy.

They watched with bated breath as the light danced teasingly around Yugi's pale form, frolicking through the shadows in a tango of mockery. Then, with a final pulsating glow, the light flickered and vanished into nonexistence.

In his mind, Joey was willing Yugi to rise. He was trying to force his heart to make his best friend's violet eyes open. However, there was no response, and somehow, that made Joey feel worse than he had when they'd found that Yugi had been killed.

Of course, he'd gotten his hopes up. _Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!_

Joey lowered his head, golden bangs falling over his eyes. "I'm… sorry," he whispered softly. It wasn't much of a mystery who he was talking to.

"It's all right," Yami replied quietly. "You tried. That… means more than you know."

Joey nodded, but he didn't seem convinced. He felt as though he had just failed his best friend, and after all that Yugi had ever done for him. Wouldn't he ever be able to repay the boy for his kindness?

 _No,_ his mind replied. _He's dead. There's nothing that can change it now._ His eyes moved to the Duel Monsters standing in their path. It had been Shadow Ryou who had caused this mess, but these monsters weren't helping. They were causing even more pain, but at least this was one problem Joey could take care of.

Drawing the next card from his deck, he peered down at it and smiled. "Good ol' Red Eyes," he said, and raised the card into the air. "Let's go, Red Eyes! It's time we pay dese bastards back!"

A distinctive roar sounded throughout the cavern as the card in Joey's hand began to glow with black light. Darkness and shadows curled around the card, morphing into a familiar form.

Wings spread wide, Red Eyes Black Dragon opened its beak-like mouth and roared viciously at the opposing Duel Monsters, before settling protectively in front of Joey and the others.

"All right, Red Eyes! Let's take down Swordstalker!"

Roaring loudly, Red Eyes Black Dragon launched himself from the ground and burst through the air toward the simultaneously attacking Swordstalker. Faster than the earthbound creature, Red Eyes Black Dragon reached the fiend before it was able to attack any of his companions. With a roar, Red Eyes fired a fierce blast from his jaws, eliminating Swordstalker effectively.

Summoned Skull growled angrily. "I've had enough of this," he snarled. "Blue Eyes White Dragon! Koumori Dragon! ATTACK!"

"Red Eyes!" Joey called, and the black dragon banked in the air, turning to face his opponent. The crystal-white dragon was flying at him, mouth agape in an obvious plan to sink vicious fangs into the black dragon's flesh.

"Dark Magician Girl!" Tea cried, taking a step backward from the swift-approaching purple dragon.

Darting through the air, Dark Magician Girl moved into an attacking position. Just before she was able to destroy Koumori Dragon, however, she released a cry of surprise and pain, as electricity consumed her form, shattering her into a blast of flickering light fragments.

Summoned Skull gave an amused smirk, releasing a deep chuckle. "Koumori Dragon!" he called, while Red Eyes Black Dragon was busy fighting off the Blue Eyes White Dragon, who had just easily melted Flame Swordsman. "Destroy that pathetic little human!"

Tea wasn't one to back down easily. In fact, she could be exceedingly stubborn. In that moment, however, she could see how very insignificant she was against the greater powers of her own world and this one, and she let out a terrified scream at the limits to her own mortality.

Light gleaming viciously off of bloodthirsty fangs, Koumori Dragon dove toward the defenseless girl.

* * *

Strange… it was warm here. There was darkness all around him, but it held him in a comforting embrace. He wasn't sure how he knew, because he couldn't really remember, but he was certain it had been cold a moment ago. Cold and… empty.

" _Little one…"_

Yugi blinked in surprise. That voice… it was a deep voice, regal and full of compassion. Yugi didn't think he had ever heard it before, but somehow, it seemed familiar.

"Hello?" he called out, his voice echoing amidst the darkness. He scanned the area with his eyes, but the world around him was blacker than the pupils of his own eyes. Where was he?

" _Little one… little light…"_

"Who's there?!" Yugi gasped as the voice seemed to come from directly over his shoulder. He spun swiftly in search of the disembodied voice, but the darkness did not retreat at his silent pleas, and he was left blind.

Swallowing the fear-filled lump quivering in his esophagus, Yugi squeaked, "Hello?" A chuckle met his ears and he flinched involuntarily.

" _You need not fear me, little light. I mean you no harm."_ The voice didn't sound sinister, but of course, he couldn't be sure. Still, though, there was the feeling in the back of his mind that he should _know_ who was speaking to him.

" _Yes, you should."_

 _Then tell me,_ Yugi thought, still searching in vain for the source of the voice. He did not question how the owner knew what he had been thinking. It seemed to make perfect sense; _of course_ he knew what Yugi had been thinking. How could he not?

" _You know me, little one."_

 _Do I?_ Yugi frowned. _Yes, I do… somehow. I know you, but… but… have I ever heard you speak before?_

" _Once,"_ the voice admitted, a smile noticeable in his words. _"Just once, little light, and at the time, we were too busy to have cared for such things as voices and their speakers. I carried you that day, little one. Do you remember?"_

A day when he had heard someone speak, but who he hadn't heard speak since, or before that. The voice of someone who had carried him. Who… Yugi frowned. Something tickled the back of his mind, a chuckle filling the dark world in which he dwelled.

"I know you," he whispered. "I know I do. Closely."

" _Very closely."_

"Are you… me?"

"… _in a way."_

 _In a way…_ Yugi closed his eyes, though he saw nothing different than he had when they were open. The darkness behind his eyelids was just as black and all-consuming. If he had been in the Shadow Realm before, where was he now?

Oh, wait.

Yes, he was dead, wasn't he?

" _Not quite."_

Yugi blinked. _No?_

" _You_ were _dead."_

 _So I wasn't dreaming,_ Yugi mused. _Ryou… oh Ryou…_

The dark world around him seemed to dance. Yugi opened his eyes. There was nothing more to see than there had been before, but he could _feel_ something. He focused on it, frowning, his eyes narrowing in thought. What could it-

 _Sadness_.

He was feeling the emotions of the darkness, and it was sad.

"What… what is it?" Yugi asked. He didn't bother to ask about the darkness. He felt that he suddenly knew. The voice he had been hearing was the voice _of_ the darkness, though these shadows had another name, as well, and another face. He didn't bother himself with that yet, however, nor how he was able to feel the emotions of this person who personified the shadows, and the shadows him.

"What's wrong?"

" _This Ryou,"_ the shadows whispered, his voice laced with sorrow. Yugi felt his breath catch, the lump that he had managed to swallow return to his throat more bloated than before. _"This Ryou that you call "brother," my little light… he has fallen."_

Goosebumps raced up Yugi's arms and he suddenly felt as though he hadn't breathed in minutes. He belt over, pulling his legs up to his chest, curling into a tight ball as he floated within the darkness. He worked his mouth in an attempt to breathe. _Ryou… Ryou… my brother…_

" _Breathe, little light,"_ the shadows whispered. They reached forward, curling around his body, running gentle fingers over his chest. Yugi choked at the touch, and then coughed wildly, his lungs drawing air in desperately. He fell against the shadows, just letting them hold him in a comforting embrace as he gasped for breath, fighting tears.

" _Cry, little light."_

Yugi obliged the shadows, releasing an abrupt sob that, like a gunshot, started a war of tears. His face was almost immediately basked in salty tears, the shadows coated in his sorrow.

 _My brother, my brother,_ he whispered desperately in his mind, begging to understand, _how could they? How could they, to you, my brother?_

The darkness was silent as he cried into its compassionate embrace. It held him as a father might, comforting him in his time of need, promising him that it would always be there. Darkness… shadows were holding him up.

Yugi's sobs lessened and he pulled back slightly. From a normal person, he might have expected a questioning glance – confusion. He felt only understanding rolling off of the shadows, however, and he did not hold back from asking his question.

"How are you… caring for me?" he asked, trying to find the right words to express his bubble of confusion. "Aren't you…" He chewed his lip thoughtfully.

The shadows chuckled. _"Evil?"_ he finished. Yugi bit his lip, but nodded. Instead of indignant anger, he felt amusement, understanding, and compassion rise from the depths of the darkness surrounding him. _"In the words of your dear brother, little one,"_ the shadows explained, gentle arms holding him comfortingly, _"the darkness_ is _light."_

"How?" Yugi whispered.

" _You are light, my little one. You shine brilliantly wherever you go. You show others the way when they are trapped in darkness."_ He could feel the shadows' smile, a gentle sadness, a calming breath of understanding and patience. _"But the light that you are blinds you, little one, so that you cannot see any of the others lights that might try to lead you out of despair. In these times, when the world around you is so white and bright, what can your eyes behold to show you the way_ but _darkness?"_

Yugi went still in the darkness' embrace, not even daring to breathe. He couldn't utter a word, but in his mind he was rambling through thoughts of darkness and light combating each other in an all-out war and suddenly realizing that this view was an utter, complete, brilliant _lie_.

" _Life-altering, isn't it?"_ the shadows whispered, nuzzling his face tenderly.

"Yami?" Yugi whispered, daring to believe.

The shadows smiled. _"No. No, little light, I am not your yami, but I consider him the luckiest pharaoh to have ever ruled, and the most blessed mortal upon any universe. You are an anomaly, child, of that there is no doubt."_

"You remind me of him," Yugi admitted. The shadows were so kind, so understanding and compassionate. They _listened_. There were few people that did that anymore.

" _I am honored to hear such praise from your lips, little one,"_ the darkness blushed. _"And I am proud of my pharaoh for turning into such a grand ruler, a dear guardian, and a trusted friend. He exceeded the expectations I had placed for him so long ago."_

And suddenly, it came together in that instant.

This shadow _knew_ Yami; knew him when he was Atemu, Prince of Egypt, great Pharaoh. He watched him grow, was close to him, trusted him, cared for him deeply.

And Yugi wondered why he hadn't realized it before.

"Dark Magician," he whispered.

The shadows around him danced in happiness and amusement. _"Little light,"_ he whispered softly, the darkness embracing him being replaced by soft tan flesh and deep purple robes, _"call me Mahaad, and call me 'friend.'"_

"Always," Yugi promised, and turned to face his companion.

Standing before him, the Dark Magician, Mahaad, looked more regal and beautiful than Yugi had ever imagined possible. Gorgeous luminescent green eyes gazed at him, glittering in compassion and pride. Yugi couldn't help but smile. Of course it had been Dark Magician who had comforted him; he had always been there when Yugi needed him.

" _My utter loyalty,"_ Mahaad promised, smiling, _"to you, little light."_ He knelt down before Yugi, their eyes locking; violet to green. _"And now, my Prince of Light, I must tell you that you are needed."_ Yugi blinked in surprise. _"Your darkness is failing at your loss, little one, and he will not last much longer without you by his side."_

"Yami?" Yugi whispered. "But… he's so much stronger than I am. How could he possibly need my help?"

Mahaad offered a caring, gentle smile. _"Atemu… Yami is a Prince of Darkness, little one, and I cannot lead him from the shadows of his loss and despair. Only light could ever hope to show him the path to take, to save him from his fall. And the others need you, as well, little one, for the Shadow Realm is a place of darkness."_ He held out his hand, palm upward. _"Only the light has a hope of leading the way out."_ He rose to his full height, hand still extended. _"Will you fight with me, Light Prince, and dispel what darkness belongs not here?"_

Yugi studied Mahaad's beautiful green eyes, his heart naming the emotions rolling off of the magician. Understanding, trust, compassion, happiness, pride, determination… Yugi knew the emotions would go on and on, for how could one person feel just one emotion at a time.

Yugi had been searching unconsciously for only one, however, and he did not find it. There was no _doubt_ within Mahaad's mind.

" _Because I know you are strong enough, my prince,"_ Mahaad said softly. _"And together, we will easily overpower them."_

_Together…_

" _Yes, my prince. Fight with me. Fight_ as _me."_

Yugi's eyes went wide. "...as… you…"

" _Yes. I pledge my utter loyalty to you, Yugi Moto. I give you my trust, my life, my soul, and all of my power."_ He smiled. _"And I would be honored if you would accept it."_

Yugi reached out to take Mahaad's hand, but paused. He met the magician's eyes. "What will… become of you?" he asked.

Understanding… happiness… trust… _"We will be one, Yugi Moto. You will become the Dark Magician and I will become the Prince of Light. We will be ourselves, and we will be each other."_ He smiled. _"Until such a time as it is no longer necessary, but all will be well. Fear not."_

Yugi smiled. _Fear not._ And he didn't. Dark Magician… Mahaad had never let him down before. Yugi knew he certainly wasn't about to start. Utter happiness, complete trust, was felt on both ends, as Yugi reached out and grasped Mahaad's large, tan-fleshed hand. It was warm and firm in his grasp. Yugi gasped in surprise when the warmth intensified and their clasped hands began to glow softly, darkness and light intermingling.

" _I will show the way for those with light-blinded eyes,"_ Mahaad whispered softly,

Yugi smiled. "Yes… and I will be the light for those who see only darkness."

Happiness, trust, loyalty, determination, understanding, compassion… their emotions became each others as they fused together. Yugi felt the darkness enshroud him, a cool blanket wrapping around him. Similarly, he felt his soul reach out, in much the same way as he would to talk to Yami. Only, instead of speaking directly to someone else's mind, he felt his soul reach out like arms and wrap around Mahaad's soul. He felt the chill of the magician's darkness within his grasp, but then his own light danced toward it, blanketing it, and the chill faded, replaced by Yugi's warmth.

They became each other, melding together, darkness and light becoming something that was neither one nor the other, but the truth that lay buried in the middle; the truth that the darkness couldn't see beyond the oppressive shadows, and that the light couldn't see beyond their blinding selves.

But they didn't need to see, did they? In fact, their eyes lied. Darkness and Light were opposites, yes, but not enemies.

They were each others savior.

" _Ready, Prince?"_ Mahaad whispered into Yugi's mind.

Yugi smiled. _"Always, friend."_


	13. Thirteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joey's ploy did work and with the return of Yugi and the Dark Magician, the tide has turned in their favor. But Bakura still doesn't want to leave, even with Ryou's voice in his head telling him to go. The others aren't willing to take no for an answer, and they're running out of time.

**Dark Summons**

**XIII**

* * *

_How could I have been so stupid?_

Bakura still sat on the floor of the cavern in the same position he had been when Ryou had died. And now… he hadn't even been left with Ryou's body. The boy's lifeless corpse had vanished and left him with nothing but a memory.

And prominent in that memory was every ounce of pain that he had caused the boy that he just recently realized he had fallen in love with.

_I deserve to die._

_Bakura, be strong._

It wasn't Ryou's voice anymore, Bakura knew. It was only one of the pieces that Bakura had left of him; the words that Ryou had continued to repeat as Bakura fought against the shadows of his own existence.

_Bakura, be strong._

How could he? How could he possibly stand strong when Ryou, _his Ryou_ , was gone? How could he hope to be anything more than a memory himself, without his light there to guide his way.

_I am nothing without you, Ryou… no matter what you say._

Bakura closed his eyes and felt tears on his cheeks. Utter weakness spilled from his eyes in great burning rivers. The Nile held nothing against the tears that ran like the very gods had created them for the simple purpose of mourning this one small boy.

_Ryou… Ryou… you can't be gone. You can't. It's not fair. It's just not fair._

Oh, but when had life ever been fair to him? When had Mercy ever appeared before Bakura to offer him a hand? When had fate ever smiled and said "I think I'll stand by your side, just this once."

Never.

Bakura was cursed, he realized. He was cursed to loneliness, for everyone around him that he cared for was doomed to die.

He raised his head and studied the faces of the children around him. And yes, _children_. Though they fought and had seen much – too much – they were all still so young.

But this was it, then. Despite their youth adamantly crying against the cruelty of mortality's spontaneous kiss, they were already dead. Time had but to catch up with the hand of the Grim Reaper.

He let out a bitter laugh at that, though it shattered upon the arrival of another fiery bout of tears. Damn this weakness for gripping his soul, and damn the fates for taking his light. Damn life in general. _I hate you all,_ he mused bitterly.

_Bakura, be strong._

_No,_ he thought, _I don't want to be strong. I'm tired of being strong. I'm tired of pretending that it doesn't hurt._ He didn't want to put that mask of indifference back on. He was tired of hiding behind all of the lies. He was tired of pretending that his heart hadn't been ripped to pieces by all that had been done to him.

 _Ra damn it!_ he swore. _It_ does _hurt, and I won't pretend it doesn't anymore! Damn you, Ra, for making him mortal! Damn you to the depths of the Hell you created for letting me meet him! And damn you, Osiris, for taking him away from me! I hate you all! I HATE YOU ALL!_

He clenched his hands into fists so hard that his nails drew blood from his palms. The thick, warm liquid dripped from the cracks in his fists and dotted the floor with a promise.

 _I will avenge you, my little one,_ Bakura thought, and rose slowly to his feet, hands still clenched tightly at his sides. _One more battle to the death, and then I will join you here in the shadows, and we can be together forever._

He reached into his pocket and drew out a card. He knew what it was before he even looked at it. It was the card that showed him who Ryou really was; the card that had told his story long before their current dark adventure had proclaimed it to be true.

_The Change of Heart._

Bakura turned the card over and smiled down at it; a sad, wanting smile. He did not see the dark-haired woman, but instead his white-haired _hikari_. Although the card looked no different than normal, Bakura could almost sense Ryou within its depths.

 _Fight with me once more, little one,_ Bakura whispered into his mind. The link that had been present moments ago was gone now, but Bakura ignored that fact and continued as though Ryou could still hear him. Perhaps in the last moments of his own pathetic life, Ra would grant him enough mercy to convey that message to his light.

And if not, Bakura would see him soon enough, and be able to tell him, himself.

Raising the card into the air, its edges soaked in his blood, Bakura called out loudly, "Change of Heart! Take control of Summoned Skull!"

The card glowed softly, with a gentle, almost-loving blue, and the beautiful hybrid appeared. One side cloaked in darkness, the other drenched in light, the half-demon, half-angel burst forth from the card in a blast of darkness and light. Dancing on the winds of fate, she ignored the enraged protests of the Summoned Skull and faded gently into his body.

Immediately, the protests stopped, as Summoned Skull opened his eyes to reveal lifeless pupils. His soul was temporarily imprisoned by the power of the Change of Heart and he had no will of his own.

But though Bakura had acted quickly, he had not been quick enough, for Koumori Dragon had already reached his target. Tea lay on her back, eyes wide with fear, the great purple beast looming above her, swinging down to consume her life force in his vicious, greedy grasp.

"TEA!" her friends screamed, realizing that, once again, they were too late to save a friend.

"DARK MAGIC ATTACK!"

The blast of dark light had erupted from behind them, exploding seemingly from nothing, to consume the purple dragon in a merciless grasp. Koumori Dragon threw his head back in agony, releasing a quivering roar, but he suddenly erupted into a burst of shimmering fragments that danced lightly on the air, before simply fading away.

The attack that had been called was easily recognizable – they all knew the summons for power as easily as they knew their owns names. But… it was impossible.

Slowly, they turned to face their savior, Tea rising from her vulnerable position on the floor to see who it was that had just barely managed to stave off her death. Her gasp was the first one heard, but the others soon followed with their own breathy exclamations of shock. Their eyes widened and mouths fell open respectively at what they saw before them.

"Yug?" Joey asked, at the same time that Tristan mumbled, "Dark Magician?"

The creature before them smiled, the grin almost a smirk upon the face they knew so well, and yet… not. And truly, part of the creature, they recognized as their dearest friend, thought lost. The other part, however…

It was surely Yugi there – the height alone could boast such a thing, ignoring how cruel such a thought sounded. The face, as well, was cherubic, much like Yugi's, but it held a harsh edge to it that made him seem ageless. The eyes were not as wide as Yugi's – narrowed now slightly, but still not as deeply as Yami's crimson glare. They held the same violet shine, but with an added green ring of luminescence, like a second gaze was shadowed over the first.

The great spikes of hair they had come to associate with their friend were gone, but the color remained the same. Rather, the thick black tresses hung heavily around his face, the ends still the same red hue. Only the bangs remained the same, fierce-blonde and dancing around his face, one falling over his forehead in an attempt to hide one eyes.

The skin-tight suit he wore was the familiar deep purple of the Dark Magician's signature garb, and the cloak that flowed behind him was of the same color. Odd, how they only then realized that the Dark Magician's clothes perfectly matched the color of Yugi's eyes.

"I'm not sure we can actually be called 'dark' anymore," Yugi admitted with a smile, feeling both his and Mahaad's amusement.

" _Certainly not,"_ Mahaad agreed, _"but I'm afraid a name escapes me at this moment. It's not just one or the other."_

Both he and Yugi noticed the astounded looks on their companions' faces at the abrupt change in voice. Although they had taken one form – a merging between the two of them – when they each spoke, they retained their individual tones.

"Perhaps… Mahaad Yugi," the young boy suggested, and he felt his soul-companion's happiness.

" _I would be honored to take your name, little light,"_ Mahaad whispered, but the others still heard his words.

"And I yours, friend," Yugi agreed.

"What da hell is goin' on?!" Joey crowed, breaking the shocked silence, which had previously been laced only with the sounds of battle between Red Eyes and Blue Eyes White Dragon.

The two dragons were now grappling. Blue Eyes White Dragon had more power, but Red Eyes was fast and stubborn. This wasn't a card game; this was real life, and Red Eyes Black Dragon dodged swiftly and surely, making hits where he could.

Gods, he acted just like Joey.

" _Perhaps now is not the time to explain,"_ Mahaad admitted, and stepped forward to stand in the midst of Yugi's friends. _"We must end this quickly and escape. The Shadow Realm is draining you."_

Yami looked up in surprise. Turning his attention to his companions, he suddenly realized that the magician was correct. How could he have not noticed before? Tristan was doing better than the others, but not by much. Joey and Tea were barely still on their feet, and Joey had sweat rolling down his face and his shirt was soaked. Calling forth their Duel Monsters was draining them.

Yami turned his gaze back to… to _it_. He couldn't say it was his favorite card, nor could he call it his aibou. His aibou was dead. Yugi was dead. What… what was this _thing_? How _dare_ it try and impersonate his light!?

As though sensing his angry gaze, those violet eyes, ringed in green, focused on him. Yami drew in a sharp breath, pain searing in his chest.

"Yami?"

With that single word, he lost it. His strength left him abruptly, his resolve cracking completely. Tears erupted from his ducts, rolling down his cheeks in waves upon waves of utter, agonizing sorrow. That voice… that voice… it was Yugi's voice.

Soft… gentle footsteps. Yami could barely hear the heeled boots clicking on the floor of the cave, but he saw the blurry purple outline of this creature's legs appear in his vision. Slowly, he raised his head. He could barely see beyond the tears, but of course he knew that this new creature stood before him.

"Who are you?" he croaked tiredly, unable to raise his voice any higher than a broken whisper.

He felt sadness envelope him. Not his own. No, no, his own sorrow was so profound that it had long-past consumed him and become one with him. This sadness infiltrated that bitter agony so abruptly that it was obvious that it was a new force. It was a fierce sorrow, for how else could it have been noticed above the continuous grief of his soul?

"Yami," the creature whispered softly, in Yugi's tender voice. Such sorrow in that voice! How dare they use him so! "Yami, it's me. It's Yugi."

"No," Yami whispered hollowly. "Yugi's dead. My aibou's dead."

That sorrow roared through him like a dragon formed of pure despair. It rocketed from one end of his soul to the next, trying to escape, trying to… to…

"Yami…"

"Don't lie to me!" Yami screamed suddenly, cupping his hands over his ears. "No! No! Yugi's dead! My aibou's dead! Go away! No more lies… no more lies…" He was sobbing anew by the end of it, his hands still cupped over his ears, but loosely-so. He hadn't the strength to keep himself from hearing such lies, just as he hadn't the strength to stop the tears from flowing. Surely, the source of the Nile was his own despairing soul.

"No more lies," he begged softly. "I can't take anymore… my heart can't take it. Yugi's gone, he's gone… my aibou, my light, m-my love… my love, he's gone…"

Through his incessant mutterings, Yami missed the soft gasp emitted by the creature before him. He did not see the violet and green eyes widen at such an admittance. He heard Yugi's voice calling his name, but he did not realize that the whisper came not to his ears, but to his very soul via the bond he shared with only one being.

Even his despairing heart, however, could not keep him from feeling the soft, warm lips press against his own.

His eyes opened wide, crimson gaze taking in the creature before him. It looked the same as it had moments ago, and yet… and yet, he could see Yugi clearly. There was no mistaking the young boy, his light, his innocence. Even if there was a second soul there, even if it was truly _Mahaad_ who was present, it was clear that Yugi was at the forefront of their symbiotic relationship.

Yugi.

Kissing him.

As soon as it had begun, the chaste kiss ended. Yugi pulled away, eyes locked with Yami's. For what seemed like an eternity, neither spoke.

"I love you," Yugi whispered, breaking the endless silence. His lips were barely inches from Yami's own, their gazes still locked. "I've always loved you. Never doubt it. Never forget it. My Yami." He smiled. "My darkness."

And then he stood, backing away from Yami, sharp violet-green eyes turning to regard the remaining three monsters. Summoned Skull was still under the control of the Change of Heart, and Red Eyes was still grappling with Blue Eyes White Dragon, but the fierce black-skinned dragon was growing weary.

" _It's time we ended this,"_ Mahaad said, his head nodding as Yugi silently agreed. They could both feel the growing despair, as the consciousness of the Shadow Realm finally began to notice their foreign existence. It was honing in on them, racing toward the cavern in which they stood, seeking to devour them completely. The shadows were calling forces to its aid, and they both knew the dangers they would all face, if they didn't leave immediately.

" _We must hurry,"_ Mahaad elaborated. _"More monsters are coming, and we will not be able to stand up against an army of such power."_

"But our monsters aren't powerful enough!" Tea complained logically, her gaze sweeping over Red Eyes Black Dragon and their temporary ally, Summoned Skull.

Mahaad-Yugi smiled. "This isn't a card game, Tea," Yugi explained gently. "It's real here. We are strong enough." He turned to regard Bakura, who had remained silent beyond his summoning of _Change of Heart_. The thief king raised his head to match the violet-green gaze when he felt it settle upon him. He didn't speak a word, but his hand did tighten its grasp around the card.

Mahaad-Yugi nodded gently. _"Bakura,"_ Mahaad said, _"attack Blue Eyes White Dragon with Summoned Skull. Let us end this now."_

For a moment, Bakura merely matched the odd-colored gaze, but then he finally nodded subtly. Thinking of Ryou as he regarded the controlled monster, he commanded the fiend to join Red Eyes in battling the Blue Eyes White Dragon.

Lightning danced around the skeletal fingers of the beast as he raised his hands in the air, summoning a tremendous power to his will. Red Eyes Black Dragon let out a fierce roar before a blast of fire belched forth from his chest, as Summoned Skull released the great ball of enraged electricity.

An angry hissing roar erupted from the smoke, followed by a fierce blast of crackling white light that struck Summoned Skull, piercing his skeletal figure and leaving behind a gaping hole in his chest. The charred flesh smoked ominously, Summoned Skull regarding his wound with a morbid curiosity, before he suddenly exploded into fragments and faded.

One foe down, Blue Eyes White Dragon returned his glare onto Red Eyes. With a snarl, both dragons lunged.

They had hoped that the combined efforts of the two monsters would have been enough, but apparently they hadn't realized the determined strength of the Blue Eyes White Dragon.

Or perhaps it was just pure stubbornness. Wow, hello, incarnation of Seto Kaiba.

" _Now's your best chance!"_ Mahaad cried, pointing toward the swirling blue portal. _"Hurry! Get away from here!"_ He didn't know how long the tired black dragon could stand against the ferocious white beast. From the swaying of the dragon's large body, however, it wouldn't be long.

Although mildly reluctant, it didn't take much persuasion to get Tea and Tristan to leave – especially since Joey practically shoved them through the portal. Instead of following, however, he turned back to the fight. He wouldn't leave Red Eyes.

"Go, Joey!" Yugi cried at his best friend.

Joey shook his head determinedly. "I ain't leavin', Yug," he said stubbornly. "Not until dis is all over."

" _Don't worry,"_ Mahaad proclaimed, _"it's over."_ Then he threw his arm out toward the stubborn blonde. A blast of air struck the boy in the chest, flinging him back and through the portal with a startled, angry cry.

" _Three down, three to go,"_ Mahaad offered loosely.

Yami didn't say anything, but continued to stare at his aibou. Bakura shook his head, but Yugi beat him verbally. "Four, Mahaad," he argued. "I'm not leaving without Ryou."

A pang of sadness shot through Yami's heart – sadness that Yugi felt, as well, but it had originated from Mahaad. _"Yugi… I'm sorry, but Ryou… he is gone."_

Yugi shook his head fervently, tricolored locks waving viciously from side to side. "No! NO! I came back, and so can he!"

Mahaad's eyes closed and he shook his head softly. _"No, Yugi,"_ he whispered, _"he can't."_ He tried his best not to break at the wretched sound of Yugi's sobs. _"We must leave."_

"I am staying," Bakura whispered.

Mahaad looked at Bakura for a moment, before nodding. _"I understand."_

"No, Bakura!" Yugi cried, leaping forward and shoving Mahaad's consciousness back forcefully. "Bakura, you're coming with us."

Bakura closed his eyes, willing the tears to hide for a few more moments. He ignored the sounds of the two dragons grappling and the feeling of the despair rising, as the Shadow Realm's minions grew closer. "I can't, Yugi," Bakura assured the young child. "I cannot go back without him."

Yugi opened his mouth to protest vehemently, but a soft, familiar chuckle met his ears and halted the words he already knew would do no good. Mouth closing softly, he glanced around, as did Bakura and Yami, searching for the owner to the voice.

" _Baka,"_ Ryou's voice whispered on the winds, _"I will always be with you."_

Bakura managed to swear in his mind as the tears forsook his pleas and slid down his cheeks. "… Ryou?" he whispered.

" _Go, my friends,"_ came the response, spoken soft and with great care. _"All will be well."_ They could feel the smile focused on them, and the Shadow Realm itself seemed to light up suddenly. _"Trust me."_

And they did.

"Come on, Yugi!" Yami said, grabbing his aibou's hand. Yugi managed a blink of surprise, before he was suddenly dragged toward the portal. He managed a smile at the knowledge that Yami realized it was him, before his eyes focused on their remaining companion.

"Bakura!" he cried, his voice causing Yami to turn his head and see the tomb robber still standing where he had been moments ago, scanning the cavern in search of his other half. "Bakura, come on!"

" _Go, Bakura,"_ the wind whispered softly in Ryou's voice, and suddenly, Bakura could move again. Turning, he darted forward, toward the portal and the two who were waiting for him. How odd, to have someone waiting to have him by their side. How odd, to know that his other half had fallen, know that he would never see him again, know that the Shadow Realm was the closest he would ever be again to the albino, but still move to leave its depths. He didn't want to, but… he was.

 _I'm being controlled!_ he realized suddenly, and immediately began to fight the unwilling movements of his limbs. His body continued to race toward the portal, and he heard a soft chuckling within his mind.

" _Bakura… don't fight it…"_

"I WANT TO STAY!" Bakura screamed suddenly, causing Yugi and Yami to twitch in surprise, confused at his outburst as he continued to run toward the portal. "STOP IT!"

" _Go on, Bakura,"_ the voice whispered in his mind. _"Go on… all will be well."_

He felt tears roll down his cheeks, his heart slowly breaking. _Liar…_

A roar of agony stole their attention and they turned as one to watch Red Eyes fall, his form exploding into merciful fragments as a blast of white-hot light severed his lifeline. Angry draconian eyes turned to them and Blue Eyes White Dragon let out a fierce roar, before kicking off the ground and launching himself at them.

" _Hurry!"_ Mahaad and Yugi cried together, their voices merging oddly. Their combined body leapt through the blue smoke of the portal, disappearing.

"Bakura!" Yami cried, holding out a hand.

"NO!" Bakura screamed, but his own hand reached out of its own accord to grasp the pharaoh's offered grasp. "GET OFF OF ME!" he shrieked. "LET ME DIE!"

"No can do, Tomb Robber," Yami stated simply, and then slipped through the portal, pulling Bakura with him.

Bakura let out a shriek of anger and despair, fighting against the hand that tugged him. Something within him seemed to quiver and he felt a small bit of control return to his limbs. He pulled at the grasp on his arm, his hand slipping free of the pharaoh's and back through the portal.

He let out a triumphant cry, but it was overshadowed by a vicious shrieking snarl. He turned to see Blue Eyes White Dragon upon him, mouth agape, white hot lightning erupting from the beast's blood-lustful lungs.

Bakura felt… something. He thought he could see a golden glow and faintly he felt a familiar tug on his consciousness, as though there was someone else there with him. A moment later, however, the crackling light reached him, slamming into his body with a physical and spiritual force.

Bakura screamed as the lightning shot through him. He felt rather than heard the wall behind him explode as the crackling power exploded into his chest and out of his back, decimating the cavern beyond his peripheral vision. His head was thrown back, his mouth open as his screamed. His eyes had lost all of their color, completely white and wide open to gaze unseeing at the ceiling. The searing heat of the dragon's blast cauterized the wound in his chest, so no blood dripped to the floor as Bakura's strength faltered.

He felt gentle hands on him, one touching his shoulder in a reassuring grasp, as another pressed against his lower back, supporting him as he fell backward. Rather than hit the floor, he fell into the embrace of someone waiting to catch him… someone who had always been waiting.

His vision had long since dimmed, but his other senses were following. The world around him was dancing to a slow, unheard tune. It was a sad song, whispered on the lips of the gods at the creation of chaos and at the destruction of beauty. He smiled, not really sure why he was smiling, until he thought of his other half.

"Ryou," he whispered hoarsely, his voice a mere croak from the screaming. He felt the world dim around him, his life draining slowly away with his strength. Even the pain was leaving him. "Ryou… I'm coming…"

Arms wrapped around him gently, hugging him close. Such a loving, trusted embrace.

" _Oh, Bakura… Bakura…"_


	14. Fourteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bakura is visited by Anubis in his dreams, only to be reunited with Ryou. Once waking up in a hospital, he and the others finally get an explanation about what has been happening, and everything becomes clear.

**Dark Summons**

**XIV**

* * *

 

Odd.

He supposed that was the only word he could come up with to describe his current situation. It was neither hot, nor cold. In fact, he wasn't sure that it was anything, at all. He was just floating in nothingness. Floating. Nothing.

Yet, it was dark.

Well, at least, he thought this was darkness. He couldn't _see_ anything, for certain. Perhaps he was blind. Perhaps it was simply too bright to see.

Wouldn't it be nice to be floating in eternal light, rather than being trapped in that bastardly darkness for an eternity?

Yes. Yes, that sounded wonderful.

What a strange sensation… the floating flickered momentarily, his heavy limbs tasting gravity for a moment, before it faded and he again became weightless. Hmmm…

Again, _odd_.

He could feel no texture. No clothing adorned his body, but he found that this didn't bother him. It was as though it was meant to be this way. It was _right_.

And still odd.

The floating sensation left again. He closed his eyes in pain, assuring himself that they had been open to take in no scenery, as gravity pulled on heavy limbs mercilessly. He tried to cry out, but there was no sound within this realm. This realm of both darkness and of light, or perhaps of neither. A realm of no sound.

Perhaps… of no life?

_Oh, right. Heh. I'm dead._

That would explain the pain, though it subsided when the frustrating gravity vanished once again. Why did it fight this realm? Why did it seek to hold onto him so tightly? He wanted to remain here, within this impenetrable light-dark realm, where he would be safe…

And alone.

 _Odd_.

Loneliness had never been a problem before. Yet… he had never had anything against which to compare it. He had always been alone. There was no contest.

And then, friends.

And then, _Ryou_.

_Ryou…_

He tried to call out to his hikari, but sound refused to leave his lips. He screamed in his mind, but only his own thoughts answered. He was disconnected… from everything.

_Ryou…_

He felt wetness on his cheeks.

_Odd._

He tried to wipe away the strange tears, but the feeling of their presence would not leave. No liquid escaped on his fingers. The tears were there, and yet… they weren't.

_Odd._

Gravity returned again and, with it, the pain.

He was enraged by his inability to scream in agony. The pain… he felt as though his limbs were each being pulled in an opposite direction. His entire body burned as though he had been doused in gasoline and then lit on fire to burn as the witches of the trials had once burned. He wanted to scream as a sudden jolt of pure, white-hot agony ripped through his chest.

He didn't make a sound, instead convulsing silently in pain. He clenched his teeth tightly together, barely managing to avoid biting off his own tongue, as the thunderous shock rushed through him again. He tried to breathe through the pain, but found that he couldn't draw in a single breath. He choked on his own confusing agony, as pain raced through his body, panic stealing away his mind.

And then, the gravity faded.

He collapsed as much as one can collapse when suspended in the middle of an endless void. He supposed he was just floating limply in the center of a giant nothingness, but he hadn't the strength to care. Such agony… such torment… was this the price he would pay for failing to protect his hikari?

_I deserve far worse._

" _So ready to judge yourself?"_

He jerked in shock and terror at the voice, spinning to face its owner, but finding himself able to see only the impenetrable darkness still. He swallowed, fearful to address such shadows.

" _Are you prepared for your judgment?"_

 _Will it be fair?_ he found himself wondering.

" _Only you can decide that."_ There was movement within the blind void. A figure appeared, not as though stepping through any veil of shadows, but more simply fading into view. It was not the creature's entrance that nearly brought him to his knees, however, but his unmistakable identity.

_Anubis…_

" _So, Bakura,"_ the jackal-headed God of Judgment spoke, golden eyes centered on the gaze of the tomb raider, _"are you prepared for your judgment?"_

A great golden scale appeared behind the god, awaiting its chance to hold Bakura in a fearsome embrace. _What should happen if I…_

" _To be the greater balance, you shall taste eternal light in a blessed afterlife of the happiness that escaped you in this life."_ The golden eyes of the fearsome god narrowed. _"To be the lesser balance, you shall taste the eternal fires of a pyre of hell and burn for an eternity in an agony that makes your mortal life appear a haven in hindsight."_

Bakura stared at the scale. He wondered why he was not more concerned. He had done terrible things in his life – horrible things. No doubt he would fail this test of judgment and be sent to burn forever in raging fires.

So why was he not more frightened by such an obvious fate?

_Because I deserve it._

He had failed in protecting his hikari. Worse yet, he had caused a great deal of the pain that had been within the young boy's life. And now… now that child was dead, and it was all Bakura's fault for being such a fool.

Yes. Yes, he deserved Hell.

He stepped forward, past the ever-watchful god, and onto the platform at the end of the scale's left arm. He felt it tip beneath him, wavering under his sudden weight. He looked across to the other platform, but it was shrouded in darkness. He wondered briefly if the feather had already been placed on that side of the scale.

" _Are you prepared to be judged?"_ Anubis asked in a dutiful tone.

Bakura closed his eyes and silently nodded. Yes, he was ready to die.

He heard the scale let off a jingling chime, and then the arm that held him rose swiftly as something stole the balance, a weight on the opposing side. Bakura raised his eyes in expectance, but what he saw made his blood run like cold rivers, and his breath catch in his throat.

Soft crimson eyes stared back at him across the arms of the scale, as the balance tipped back and forth as though they were riding a teeter-totter. Bakura felt that horrid burning sensation behind his eyes, as the Nile made another appearance, cooling the fires of his pain with gentle tears.

He wanted so badly to call out his hikari's name, but no words would escape past his lips. He could only desperately cry the name in his mind, but that was all that was truly necessary. _Ryou? Ryou?_

The albino across from him smiled softly. _"Hai, Bakura,"_ his melodious voice whispered gently through the mind-link.

Bakura closed his eyes, cherishing the feeling of the link reasserting itself. He had thought for certain that he would never feel such blessed wholeness again.

_How are you… why…_

" _I am your light, Bakura,"_ Ryou answered softly, _"and you are my darkness. We must know where we stand against the other. Only then can Fate decide our paths."_

Tears slipped silently down Bakura's cheeks. He wanted to sob loudly, but no sound would leave his lips. He wanted to call out Ryou's name, but he was kissed eternally by Silence. He wanted to rush to Ryou and take the albino in his arms and simply hold him, but he could not move from the tipping, twisting, spinning arm of the scale.

And so he settled for letting the tears fall, and hoping that they might flood this purely endless void, so that he could swim to Ryou's side.

" _Bakura…"_

Ryou's voice in his mind brought Bakura from his thoughts and he lifted his gaze to the albino's soft crimson orbs. They were filled with sadness and guilt, and the scale beneath his feet quivered in anticipation.

" _I am sorry, Bakura."_

Bakura blinked. Ryou was sorry… _for what?_

" _It's my fault all of this happened. If I hadn't been trying to keep from being who I was, you wouldn't-"_ He closed his eyes as he broke off, shaking his head slowly as though trying to fight off a headache. _"I… you wouldn't have had to be only half a person, if I hadn't cast half of myself away."_

 _Ryou, I…_ Bakura blinked away his blurry vision, ignoring the feeling of the tears rolling down his cheeks and trickling down his neck to soak his shirt. _Ryou… I… I'm sorry…_

He shook his head. _"This isn't your fault, Bakura,"_ Ryou assured him. _"I tried to be only half of who I am. I ignored my darkness, thinking that would make it go away. In so doing, I only gave it more power. Or rather… I took power away from the light. I shielded myself from the effects of the darkness, but I left you open to be corrupted by them. If not for my selfish actions, this scale would have never tipped into the shadows. If not for my foolishness, you never would have gotten hurt."_

 _But I failed you, Ryou,_ Bakura thought desperately. _If I had been faster, or stronger, I could have fought the darkness. I could have…_ He choked on the words in his mind, flaming-hot tears gushing from his eyes. _I could have saved you,_ he whispered pleadingly, begging to let the fault be on his shoulders. _Ryou, please… please…_ He met the albino's soft crimson gaze. _Please, don't leave me… don't go away. I can't bear it without you – I can't. It's not worth living without you there. Please… please don't go…_ Not even the forces of eternal silence could halt the sob that burst forth past his lips. _I don't want to be alone again…_

Ryou's gaze softened as he gazed upon the tomb robber. _"Oh, Bakura,"_ he whispered softly, _"you were_ never _alone."_ Sorrow welled within his crimson eyes, spilling over in waves of silver tears that left bitter streaks on his pale flesh. _"But you have to wake up, Bakura,"_ he begged. _"Please… please… wake up…"_

* * *

A deep, ravenous screaming was the first thing that reached his ears. He flinched at the ferocious shrieking, trying to shy away from them, but to no avail. They surrounded him on all sides, attacking him mentally with stabbing vocal cords. His breath quickened, his heart racing, and he dared finally to open his eyes and greet his attackers.

The world around him was white. Completely, utterly, undeniably _white_.

 _Gods, I did go to Hell,_ he thought. However, it was then that his eyes caught sight of the noise-making demons, and he blinked in surprise.

He was in a hospital.

He was pretty sure that Hell didn't have any hospitals.

His eyes took in the number of machines. Now that he was more coherent, the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor didn't seem ferocious. It certainly wasn't pleasant – rather annoying, actually – but it no longer sounded like the vicious war cry of a flesh-eating demon native to Hell.

He studied the assortment of whirring machines around him, his eyes flowing over every metal surface and glaring screen, as his ears quickly became accustomed to the constant noise and began to block it out. A bag of clear liquid dangled from a flimsy-looking pole above the bed in which he lay and Bakura followed the plastic tube down to his arm where, to his horror, he saw it disappear into his skin.

Something was stabbing him in the arm! _Fuck!_

And then his eyes caught something neither mechanical nor beeping by his arm.

A head of white hair.

_Impossible._

Reaching forward with a gentleness that Bakura had thought beyond him, his arm shaking – though he would sternly deny such an accusation – Bakura brushed back the thick white locks of hair, revealing a face.

There was no doubt that it was Ryou, and such a realization made Bakura's lungs stop functioning momentarily. He swallowed hard, forced himself to take a few deep breaths, and then returned to studying the boy.

Oh, it was most definitely Ryou. Bakura could never doubt that face – the image was so much like his own, but there was a distinct tenderness within Ryou's form that distinguished the two of them. Ryou almost seemed more… _feminine_. Not in a way that claimed he was a girl, or even _girly_ , but in a manner that proclaimed how graceful, how… _beautiful_ he was.

_Yes… beautiful…_

Ryou's eyes were closed, those soft crimson orbs hidden from the world. He looked so peaceful in slumber, but Bakura could see the tension in his features. His lips were pressed tightly together, even in unconsciousness, his brow furrowed. His head was resting on crossed arms, his hands curled into fists, holding tightly to the blankets as though letting go would mean that he would lose something precious to him.

The most noticeable of all of these small flaws in happiness were the tracks that tears had made on his perfect pale flesh.

"Ryou…" Bakura whispered softly, brushing away a stain of tears with his thumb. He hadn't meant to awaken the boy, but his actions, however soft, had roused the albino from his slumber.

At first, his brow simply furrowed, his eyes squeezed shut tightly as though to squeeze sleep from the vestiges of his mind, his nose scrunching up cutely.

Then he opened beautiful crimson eyes, and went rigid.

"B-Bakura…" he whispered disbelieving, his soft, almost-unheard voice filled with terror.

Bakura barely restrained flinching when he heard the fear in Ryou's voice. Gritting his teeth to keep from making a sound, he turned his head away, aware that he wouldn't be able to leave the room thanks to the needles in his arm.

 _Stupid hospitals,_ he snarled darkly. _Why did I even have to wake up, if he's just going to be afraid of me?_ He felt a harsh pain in his chest and this time he did flinch. He closed his eyes, willing the flood of the Nile to leave him the hell alone. _I wish I'd just died…_

Of course, having just woken up from a confusing judgment on the scales by the god Anubis, Bakura conveniently forgot that Ryou was psychic and, therefore, could read his mind.

He heard a harsh sob and turned swiftly, just in time to see a flash of white as Ryou threw himself at Bakura, wrapping his arms tightly around his darker half's neck.

"Oh, gods, Bakura, don't think like that!" he whispered fiercely into Bakura's shoulder. His arms tightened around the tomb robber's neck desperately. "Please… I was so scared, Bakura!"

Bakura didn't quite know what to do. Ryou had sounded so frightened… why was he hugging him? In fact, why was he even _here_?

"Ryou," he whispered weakly, his body still rigid, his arms at his sides, "you're dead."

Three months ago, to anyone who heard it, such words would have sounded like a threat – especially coming from Bakura's lips. Now, however, his voice was so thick with emotion that the words couldn't have been mistaken for anything more than a confusion-induced falsification.

"N-no, Bakura," Ryou stammered weakly, pulling away from the tomb raider. He sat back, wiping at his eyes futilely. "I'm not… I'm not dead, Bakura." He saw the emotions raging across Bakura's face, saw the hope flare in his eyes, before quickly being dashed by doubt, slaughtered ferociously by logic, and buried half-alive by an understanding that reality is cruel, inhumane, and likes to toy with people's hearts.

Bakura shook his head, closing his eyes tightly and pressing the heels of his hand against his eyes. "No… no, _I'm_ dead," he corrected with bitter realization. "I'm dead and this _is_ Hell. You're going to tell me you hate me and spend the rest of eternity killing me again and again for not… for not…" He broke off abruptly, unable to continue, unable to hold back the tears. He choked, and then sobbed harshly, wrapping his arms tightly around himself. He pulled himself back from reality, trying to pull his mind back, to find his Soul Room and hide in it. He would be safe there. Safe. Yes, safe. He needed to be safe.

"Bakura!" Ryou cried, grabbing the tomb robber's shoulders and shaking him roughly, in a manner that he never would have dared months ago, if only because it would have broken the act he had been playing for years. "Bakura, please!" he cried. "Look at me!"

Still desperately trying to pull back into himself, Bakura managed to raise his eyes to meet the soft, worried crimson gaze of his hikari. He said nothing, but his eyes spoke all that Ryou couldn't bring himself to read from his mind, lest he drown in what he was certain was a flood of agony and confusion.

"Bakura," he said, forcefully calming his tone so as not to drive Bakura away. He managed the situation as one might when dealing with a skittish animal: rush at them, physically or verbally, and you would drive them away. The only plausible answer would be to act calm, to show that you weren't a threat, and to wait patiently for them to come to you.

"Bakura, it's okay," he soothed gently. He wanted so much to reach up and brush back those wild white bangs, but he didn't dare move his hand any closer. Bakura was already concerned about his very existence. There was little doubt that the threat of his touch would be too much for the lightly-shivering tomb robber to take. "It's okay. I'm here. I swear, I'm really here. You're not dead, Bakura. You're not dead, and neither I am, I promise."

Bakura trembled before him, and the difference in the way he was acting now frightened Ryou. He had known, of course, that there would be a change – how could he _not_ know?! It was his fault, to begin with, that Bakura had been so cold and malicious. He didn't think Bakura understood this, but he would have to explain it to him. First, however, he needed Bakura to listen. He was certain that the tomb robber didn't comprehend the words he was speaking. More likely, he was only aware of the fact that Ryou _was_ speaking.

"Everything's going to be okay, Bakura, I promise," Ryou continued to soothe. "You've been asleep for a long time, but you're awake now, so everything is fine. It's all okay."

"B-but…"

Ryou kept himself from speaking, in order to ensure the stammering dark half of his soul that he was listening; that he was here. He waited with eternal patience for the tomb robber to speak.

As it always had, his patience paid off.

"B-but I… I watched you… you… I held you…" He bit his lip to keep himself from reaching out when Bakura shivered violently, a vicious sob erupted from deep within him. "Y-you… you died… in my arms," Bakura whispered pleadingly.

Ryou felt a flash of pain lance through him. It wasn't his own, he was aware. Well, in part, it was. He felt his own guilt at what he had no doubt put his other half through, but the pain, for the most part, was the agony he felt through the link – the pain that such a horrid memory had brought up within Bakura's soul.

"I didn't die, Bakura," Ryou whispered comfortingly, his eyes remaining steadily on the tomb robber's face. Bakura's eyes were focused deftly on the white sheets that covered him, at the needle in his arm, at his other hand resting on the bed, but never at Ryou's face. Ryou was patient. He had spent his life being patient. He would keep his eyes on Bakura's face, so that when the tomb robber finally did look up, the first thing he would see would be Ryou's eyes, and he would know that the albino was there.

"I didn't die," Ryou assured him again, his voice retaining that gentle, soothing tone. "Almost, maybe, but I was still there. Do you remember what I told you, Bakura? I told you that I know things, often long before they happen. I told you that I knew how that fight was going to end – I did. There were many possible outcomes, and only two looked promising.

"In one, I would die, along with my shadow, but the rest of you would live. The other…" He smiled. "In the other, I would defeat my shadow, return to being whole, and we would all live. There were risks, and none of us would escape unscathed, but we would all be _alive_." The light in his eyes faded suddenly, replaced by fear, crimson glazing over in memory. "It almost didn't happen, though, even though I'd seen it. I almost… lost you."

This time, he couldn't stop himself from reaching out and gently running his hand down Bakura's cheek. The tomb robber winced in anticipation of the touch, but once Ryou's soft hand was touching his skin, his tense muscles relaxed and his eyes slipped closed to the whims of comfort.

"You fought me, Bakura," he whispered, "and I almost lost you. You almost made one of the other outcomes come into play."

Bakura's eyes opened. He still wouldn't meet Ryou's patient gaze, but his open irises clearly stated both his confusion and his desire to know more.

"One of the other outcomes, Bakura," Ryou dutifully explained, "one of the _unacceptable_ outcomes, was that I survived the attack, Yugi returned, everyone made it out all right…"

He closed his eyes, the very thoughts pilfering through his mind causing him pain, as he finished, "except you." He shook his head lightly. "It was an outcome I was unwilling to endure, for purely selfish reasons, I will admit. There were, decidedly, a lot of outcomes that resulted in your death. In some, all of us died, in others, only some of us. In the ones where you died, however, I usually lived." He continued to trace soft lines over Bakura's face, trying to soothe him through voice and touch, now that his words weren't quite as pleasant as he hoped they had been earlier. "I never would have been able to live in a world without you, my darkness," he whispered.

For a long time, there was silence. In wasn't an uncomfortable silence so much as a contemplative one. Ryou continued to trace his right hand over Bakura's face, trying to memorize every detail, as Bakura mentally devoured all of this new and confusing information.

Finally, he asked, "Why?"

Ryou paused in his inkless finger-painting to regard Bakura with a look of mild confusion, though he was fairly certain as to the meaning of the question. Still, it wasn't proper etiquette to appear omniscient. It made others feel small.

"Why what?" he asked, returning to tracing his hand down Bakura's jawline, loving the feel of the muscles under his fingers as he darker half spoke.

"Why wouldn't you be able to stand life without me?" Bakura asked, his voice very quiet for someone who had, only months prior, been a powerful enemy.

Ryou smiled in patient amusement, not at all condescending. "Why do you ask questions that you already know the answer to, my love?"

He felt Bakura go rigid, felt the tenseness of the air, felt the air around him freeze as the boy stopped breathing. Of course, Ryou had just answered his question, and he assumed that Bakura had not been expecting such a blunt admittance.

The time for masks was over, however. Ryou was ready to be _Ryou_.

"Y-you… you weren't…"

"I wasn't lying, Bakura," Ryou told him gently, "when I said that I loved you. It was not something I whispered randomly because my shadow had me at his mercy. No. No, my love, it was an admittance that I had held deep inside for far too long. But I was frightened, love, and as I said, I just needed to know that you trusted me, as I trusted you."

Bakura shook his head, finally raising his eyes to meet Ryou's gaze. It was not a confident glance that he gave him, but a submissive look that one might receive from a puppy who realizes that he has just chewed up his master's two hundred dollar dress shoes. "How can you have trust me, Ryou?" he whispered. After all that he had done – all the horrible crimes he had committed, all of the pain that he had caused Ryou.

Ryou simply gave him that patient, understanding smile that Bakura was beginning to associate with him and him alone. "Sometimes, Bakura," he answered with gentle amusement, "I just know things." He leaned forward and touched his lips gently to Bakura's forehead, before pulling back and gazing happily into the tomb robber's eyes. "Now, love, if we're all right, there are a few people here to see us." He smiled gently. "Won't our friends be surprised to see that you're awake."

Bakura blinked in surprise at the words. _Our f_ riends _,_ he thought, confusion intermingling with cautious happiness. _Right… I have… friends._

" _Yes, Bakura,"_ Ryou whispered softly through the mind link, causing Bakura to jump, startled. He met Ryou's amused gaze, soaked up his tender smile. _"Of course you have friends. Always have, always will."_ He crimson eyes were soft, his fingers gentle as they traced Bakura's cheek. _"You will_ never _be alone, my love. Never, I promise you."_

Bakura closed his eyes, cherishing the feel of Ryou's soft fingers tracing down his cheek. He opened his eyes when the hand was pulled back, just as the door to the room opened and a familiar face peered in.

"Yo, Ryou, you awake?"

"Good morning, Tristan," Ryou greeted pleasantly, moving so that he sat on the edge of Bakura's bed by his knees, rather than continuing to straddle the tomb robber's legs. "I was hoping you would stop by."

Tristan, who had yet to actually step into the room, chuckled a little, though it sounded as though it was strained. "Didn't you _see_ that I was coming?"

Ryou laughed gently, his chuckle soft and musical as it had always been. Bakura felt warmed by such a sound and wanted to hear it uttered again and again.

"I believe that it is a rather rude practice to peer without restraint into the future wills of another, and so I have refrained as much as possible," the albino admitted, the amusement clear in his voice, despite the serious answer. It seemed that the others knowing about his psychic abilities and still accepting him had done a great deal to open him up around them.

Or perhaps it was simply the fact that he was whole again.

"I say, Tristan," Ryou commented, his eyes dancing, "are you trying to move yourself through the doorway with your mind? That actually does require moving your feet, you know."

"Har har," Tristan grumbled, finally stepping through the door. He had his motorbike helmet under one arm, his other hand gripping the strap to an odd-shaped bag he had strapped across his back. "I was actually trying to-"

Whatever Tristan had been about to say, Ryou didn't bother to try and discover. Rather, he was attempting to memorize the look of utter shock on Tristan's face, as he was sadly lacking a camera. Tristan's hazel eyes had finally caught sight of Ryou's look-a-like, sitting up in bed, watching the ongoing scene with cautious amusement.

"BAKURA!" Tristan cried suddenly, completely tossing away his pride and the items he was carrying, in favor of launching himself to the tomb robber's side. "You're awake!" he declared happily.

"I… have established that, yes," Bakura replied hesitantly. Ryou just smiled at the answer, swinging his legs lightly in amusement. The others would be appearing in a moment, and then the explanations could finally begin.

Of course, there was _something_ off.

Oh well, that would reveal itself soon enough.

"But… dude, _you're awake_!" Tristan cried. "This is big news!"

Bakura managed to gain back a bit of his badass flare, rolling his eyes disdainfully and copping off with, "Obviously not big enough for the media to show up, now is it?"

Ryou couldn't contain the chuckle the escaped passed his lips, and it was heard by the new arrivals with some confusion.

"What's so funny, Ry- BAKURA?!" Yugi cried, running over to the bed at the sight of the tomb robber's conscious existence. Unconcerned about either pride or proper ethics when dealing with hospital patients, he leapt right up onto the bed and hugged Bakura, much to the tomb robber's embarrassment and confusion.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Yugi cried.

A soft cough called all of their attention and they turned to see Yami standing in the doorway, watching as his hikari hugged his worst enemy.

"Tomb robber," Yami greeted, though his voice didn't hold as much contempt as it had in the past.

"Pharaoh," Bakura greeted in reply, though his tone also lacked the ferocity it had displayed previously.

"It's…" Yami hesitated, as though unsure as to how to proceed. Finally, he settled for, "I'm glad you're not dead yet. That would have been anti-climatic."

"Indeed," Bakura agreed, and did manage a small smile. The pharaoh returned it, and all seemed to have been forgiven.

"Where are Tea and Joey?" Ryou questioned, slightly eager to explain what had occurred. He had been holding out on the others, saying that he wanted Bakura to be awake when he told them the first time. They had been patient with him for a long time, and he didn't want to keep them waiting any longer.

"They're… busy," Tristan said, having finally left Bakura's side to move his discarded guitar carrier and helmet to a more appropriate place. "We can fill them in later."

There was no doubt that something was being left unsaid, but it would be revealed in due time, and Ryou didn't feel like waiting. Asides from that, he had a pretty good idea that they would need to get this out of the way before they dealt with whatever was keeping Tea and Joey _busy_.

It was just one of those things that he _knew_.

"So, Ryou," Tristan began, leaning against the wall across from the albino, "are you finally going to tell us what happened?"

"Yes," Yami agreed, taking a seat in the chair next to the bed, Yugi wandering over to sit on his lap, "because I believe we've waited long enough."

Ryou bowed his head in agreement. "Yes, and I apologize for making you wait, though I did have my reasons, and your patience had meant a great deal to me." His gaze slid to Bakura for a moment and he offered the tomb robber a smile, which was gently returned. "First, I believe I need to explain precisely what it was that had taken you captive, Yugi, and so we shall begin as all stories should – at the beginning.

"You were very ill at the beginning of this, Yugi, if you recall." Yugi blinked in surprise, having forgotten such a simple thing. Yami, of course, hadn't, and tightened his grip on his aibou. "This sickness was one that arose from your soul, as the creature that captured you was attacking your spirit. In order to gather your attention, and that of those around you, the attack manifested itself as a rather powerful case of Influenza."

"Wait a sec," Tristian interrupted, raising a hand to call attention to him, "Yugi had the _flu_?!"

"Yugi's soul was being attacked," Ryou explained patiently, "but the attacked manifested itself as the flu, yes."

"But when we talked to Yami, he was all freakin' out about how Yugi was dying," Tristan argued.

At this, Bakura managed a small smile. "You don't get sick very often, do you?" he asked Yugi. The small boy shook his head, slightly surprised at being spoken to by the tomb robber. "I haven't been quite so lucky." At this, he sent a less-than-lethal glare in Ryou's direction, to which Ryou just smiled. "Ryou has been sick numerous times since he got the Millennium Ring, so I've become rather used to the fact that diseases which killed easily in our time are actually quite survivable in this modern era."

A surprised look flashed across Yami's face. "You weren't dying?" he asked Yugi.

Yugi opened his mouth to answer, but Ryou interrupted him. "Had it been merely the flu, Yami, then no. Yugi likely would have been fine within the next few days. Sadly, it wasn't just the flu – it simply looked like it. When you fell asleep, your soul was summoned into the Shadow Realm. However, your soul was connected with Yami's and to draw in one soul is to draw in another. In order to do this, your connection to Yami's soul – that being the Millennium Puzzle – was also drawn into the Shadow Realm. And, because the Millennium Puzzle is a physical item, it made it easy for your body to be drawn in, as well. When that happened, whatever spell he used adjusted, calling all of you into the Shadow Realm in both your souls _and_ your bodies."

"Then how come you weren't called in, as well?" Yugi asked.

Ryou smiled. "He tried, I'm sure, but there were a few flaws in his plan. He disregarded the fact that I am the holder of the Millennium Ring and therefore the host to a spirit, just as you are, Yugi. He didn't realize that, unlike you and Yami, Bakura and I had not bonded so closely." He reached over and squeezed Bakura's hand gently when the tomb robber lowered his head guiltily. "He was also amazingly narcissistic and assumed that, being my dark side and powerful, that I would have no power. This was the gravest of his mistakes." He sighed. "It is also one that I made."

He did not miss the looks of confusion that passed around the room.

"After what happened with my mother, I attempted to divide myself from my dark urges and my power. I assumed that my power was dark and therefore came with the darkness in my soul. By ridding myself of these powers, I would no longer have darkness within my soul and wouldn't have to worry about hurting anyone. One out of three is not a very good score."

He readjusted his position on the bed lightly, smiled at Bakura, and continued on. "I was right in the fact that I could separate myself from my dark urges, and I did succeed in doing this. My powers, however, were not dark as I thought, but simply _were_. Just as with magic, these powers have no tendencies toward either morality, but it is by _intention_ that they are deemed good or evil, and still then it depends on perspective, but I am getting off topic.

"I still had my powers, but I pretended so ferociously that I didn't that I actually managed to convince myself that I was _normal_. Even when I met you guys, who are, I assure you, decidedly _abnormal_ , I couldn't bring myself to step out of the stereotype I convinced myself I belonged in. When I became the host to Bakura's spirit, I convinced myself yet again that I was normal by arguing that I was not the only one. You also had a Millennium Item, Yugi, and I took great solace in this fact. It was very selfish of me." He smiled bitterly. "You see, the only reason that Bakura was as he was-"

"I was an asshole, Ryou, you can say it," Bakura asserted.

"I'll say," Yami smarted off, and Ryou chuckled.

"Yes, well, Bakura wouldn't have held so desperately to his cold attitude if not for me," Ryou explained.

"What do you mean?" Yami asked, confused.

Ryou smiled. "As we are, Bakura and I, the same is with you, Yami and Yugi. This is the same for Mariku and Malik, as well. One darkness, the other light." He raised his hand for silence when the others moved to speak. "This does not mean evil and good, or even dark and light as opponents. Rather, as I stated before, darkness _is_ light. They are the same. Different sides of the same coin, but still the same coin. Darkness and Light, perched upon a scale, constantly rotating and needing to retain balance. What one isn't, the other must be." He smiled gently. "Do you understand?"

"Not at all," Tristan admitted, after a long moment of silence.

Yugi, however, thought that he was getting it. "You cast out all of your darkness," he said slowly, aware of everyone's attention riveted on him, "so you were held no darkness at all. So… Bakura had to be dark."

"Completely," Ryou revealed, nodding. "I had cast half of myself into the Shadow Realm, thereby turning myself into half of a person. In response, Bakura couldn't balance us if he was a full person, and in order to keep Light from overwhelming us, he had to be completely dark. Even in this situation, each of us only half of a person, I would have been able to take half of the dark and he half of the light, thereby balancing us completely, _if_ I had been willing. However, I had cast out my dark side and held a certain revulsion for all things dark. The shadows that Bakura held within him repulsed me, and in response, I repulsed them.

"There, you have the tension between the two of us. My selfish act of believing that I could exist as completely light is what caused the shadows to so prominently consume Bakura." He smiled at Bakura in amusement. "It is also why you seemed to hate me so; I loathed the shadows that held you tightly. I simply didn't show my hatred, because that would be revealing to myself that I was still capable of being dark." He returned his gaze to the others.

"Casting out part of myself, however, didn't mean _killing_ half of myself. I think subconsciously, I was aware that _that_ would be suicide of a spiritual sort. Perhaps I was even aware, somehow, that there would come a time when I would return to being whole."

"Wait… _return_?!" Bakura cried, sitting forward abruptly. "Ryou, did you-"

"Yes," Ryou replied softly, nodding. "And now, I will explain my "death" to you." He crossed his ankles and peered at the ceiling with a pensive expression, gathering his thoughts. After a moment, he began to speak softly. "I had a vision while I was sleeping," he started. "You had already been transported to the Shadow Realm and I was unaware of such a transfer – consciously, at least. In my vision, however…"

"I died," Yugi finished, suddenly remembering the encounter.

"Yes," Ryou admitted softly, nodding gently.

Yami's arms tightened around Yugi and he buried his face into his aibou's tri-colored hair. Yugi smiled and placed a hand over Yami's, assuring him that he wasn't going anywhere.

"After that," Ryou continued, "all of the memories that I had cast away as fantasies, everything that I had either forced myself to forget or to believe as mere coincidence came back, and every bit of rage that I had ever felt since the death of Amane returned. With it, my powers came back full-force, and I ripped a portal open to the Shadow Realm, and entered it with the sole purpose of destroying my shadow – the dark side of me which kidnapped you all to begin with."

He smiled in amusement. "It was once I had entered the Shadow Realm that the visions came to me – the possible outcomes to this battle, depending on what courses of actions were to be taken. As I explained to Bakura, there were only two outcomes in the end that appeared remotely appealing. In one, I destroyed both my shadow side and myself, therefore promising that the rest of you would survive – including you, Yugi. The other outcome was the one that we managed to accomplish, though Bakura's reluctance to enter the portal nearly caused his death."

Bakura frowned suddenly, remembering the attack cast at him by Blue Eyes White Dragon. "What stopped that from killing me, anyway?" he asked. "I was pretty sure I was hit."

The others exchanged looks, their faces very pale.

"I'm getting to that," Ryou said, saving the others from explaining that Bakura had, indeed, been hit. "But first I will explain what occurred between me and my shadow. We were evenly matched, as I am sure was clear. We were – are – the same person, after all. I simply was the light and he was my darkness. Unlike you and I, Bakura, who are separate people who share a unique bond, my shadow and I are the same person who wanted nothing more than our bond to be severed. You should, as it is said, be careful what you wish for. Managing to sever the bond would have killed us both.

"At any rate, I was aware of what was going to happen, to a degree. I didn't know, however, certain facts which pertained to your opinions – your wills. I can see into the future when sight is offered, and into the past, and into people's minds. I cannot, however, see into someone's heart or soul, for those are the deepest parts of themselves, and I do not hold such a power. If Bakura trusted me, as he revealed that he did, I would be able to make the outcome come to pass where we all survived." He smiled grimly. "The other choice was to give myself to death in order to save you all. I am pleased with the way things turned out."

He chuckled at the surprise on their faces at how easily he spoke of his possible death. Of course, he was no stranger to mortality, and he had long since stopped being shy about such discussions. On top of that, it was in the past, and he was more concerned with the present and the future.

Still, there were a few more things to explain.

"When my shadow attacked Bakura, I was no longer his main target and he opened himself to me. In that moment, I reconnected him with my half of our soul. When I took his attack, it struck me. However, because I had reasserted our connection, thereby making us one being, attacking _me_ was the same as attacking _himself_. Therefore…"

"He destroyed himself," Yugi finished, mouth open in awe.

Ryou waved his hand to indicate a shaky point. "He… immobilized himself. He certainly caused himself a great deal of pain. Someone can usually take an attack thrown by another person, but when they are attacked by their own power, they usually don't have a built-in defense because such a thing really _shouldn't_ happen. You shouldn't have to fight yourself. After all, you never _really_ win.

"When he essentially attacked himself, he knocked down all of his defenses and I used the moment to draw him back into myself. I had realized at that point the purpose of my darker side, and I understood that I was causing these shadows to be so cruel against us all. I understood that I needed to be whole in order to let life move on normally, and we all got a taste of this assurance when I first entered the Shadow Realm."

"That was when the shadows disappeared at first, wasn't it?" Bakura asked, thinking back to when he and Tristan had been in the cave after the rock slide that nearly killed him.

Ryou nodded, smiling. "Yes. When you were first transported to the Shadow Realm, you and I were on separate planes of existence, and therefore your soul was left to balance with my shadow. This was when things began to go… awry. You had more freedom in your mind, because the shadows were drawn to my shadow. When I entered the Shadow Realm, you had been battling the shadows so that they wouldn't attack Tristan. Because my shadow and I are the same person, the two of us together on the same plane of existence balanced you out. We weren't yet fully connected, but our close proximity allowed you to become the person you would have been, had I never cast my dark side out to begin with.

"When I reconnected myself with my shadow," Ryou continued, "I drew him into myself, both spiritually and, in essence, physically. However, I had done a lot of damage to his form, myself, and every wound that I had inflicted on him was transferred to me when we merged. Naturally, this was both a very painful experience and, considering the severity of our combined wounds, particularly fatal."

He gave a rather unconcerned shrug at their open mouths and wide eyes. "As I said, sometimes I just know things. I knew that everything was going to be fine, and I told you so, Bakura. However, being in that much pain, I wasn't able to focus my mind quite as well as I had hoped to, and so I was disturbingly lax when it came to explaining _why_ everything was going to be fine. I tried to tell you that I was only going to be resting, but I think I may have came off as being delirious."

"I can vouch for that," Tristan commented, trying to lighten the mood. It didn't work very well, considering that the memory was still fresh in everyone's mind, but Ryou still smiled gently.

"Yes, well, the Ring actually helped a great deal. My body was unable to handle the ferocity of the wounds, and so it did fail. My soul, however, was pulled into the depths of the Millennium Ring."

"But then, why did your body vanish?" Yami asked, speaking up for the first time in a while. He remembered that part from the incident, though not much else considering that he had been so worked up over Yugi's death.

"The Shadow Realm is a place of souls." Ryou shrugged. "Without a soul, my body had no purpose in being there, and so it vanished." He raised a finger to stave off the question he knew was coming. "Yugi's body remained because his soul also remained. The hieroglyphics along the walls were painted in Yugi's blood, and though my shadow did not know it, using his blood sealed his soul in that cavern and forbid it from passing on.

"When Dark Magician was destroyed, rather than pass on himself, his soul was drawn to Yugi's, because Mahad is bound to protect Yami, and therefore Yugi. Joey had a stroke of pure genius when he thought to bring Yugi back as the Dark Magician."

"We'll have to remember to mark that on the calendar," Tristan commented, laughing. "Joey uses his brain." The others laughed along with him, the mood considerably lightened by the understanding that Ryou had never truly been _dead_ , and Yugi had never really been gone.

"My spirit was resting within the Millennium Ring, regaining strength, as the battle continued on. I had rested enough to be able to communicate briefly with you as the Shadow Realm was forming a means of stopping you from leaving, and in order to stop your reluctance to leave. I had to use my powers to force you to leave, but I was still rather weak, and that is why you were able to fight back against me, Bakura."

He hesitated at this point, biting his lower lip and thinking about what to say next. He had more or less known about the other incidents, so they didn't bother him as much. This next part, though, he hadn't been expecting, and it scared him how close he had come to losing Bakura.

"Ryou?" Bakura asked, reaching out and touching his shoulder.

Ryou looked up and smiled softly at the concern on his dark's face. Reaching up and taking his hand, he held it softly in his own as he continued his tale.

"When you fought not to leave the Shadow Realm, you gave Blue Eyes White Dragon a chance to attack, and she took it readily." He swallowed, closing his eyes. Taking a deep breath, the memory still fresh in his mind, he continued, "She did attack you, Bakura, and she _did_ hit you. In fact, the blast of power was so concussive that it shot straight through you."

Releasing Bakura's hand, he reached out and placed his hand palm-flat on Bakura's stomach. "From your memories, I gather that you recall a golden light." Bakura nodded. "I manifested enough of my power, mixed with the magic of the Millennium Ring, to keep you alive. Blue Eyes White Dragon's attack knocked you back through the portal and destroyed it behind you, thereby sealing off the Shadow Realm. My powers were weakened by the transfer across planes, but I managed to heal you to a point that you didn't have a gaping hole in your chest. The rest was up to the doctors, as I was unable to retain consciousness, even within the Millennium Ring."

"We brought you here," Yugi continued, realizing that, though Ryou was probably aware of what had happened, he _had_ been unconscious at the time. "We saw your wound heal and we weren't quite sure how you were even alive, but we brought you to the hospital and they took you into surgery right away. You were there for… a long time."

Yugi brought his legs up, curling up tighter in Yami's protective embrace. "We were worried," he continued. "You didn't… you looked horrible. We thought you were going to die, and then they wouldn't let the Ring on you, so Tristan had to take it, because it burnt my hand every time I tried to touch it, and Yami couldn't get near it."

Yami huffed in annoyance at this and Bakura couldn't help but smirk.

"They finally finished with you, but they wouldn't let us see you. They kept saying only family was allowed to see you and that you were too hurt anyway, but they wouldn't let us in, so we were stuck in the waiting room, hoping you would wake up. And then… Ryou appeared." His nose crinkled up cutely at this, displaying his obvious confusion.

Ryou chuckled at Yugi's expression and how Yami bent down to kiss his confused aibou on the nose.

"I had been within the confines of the Millennium Ring long enough that I had healed considerably. Not completely, mind you, but enough that I wasn't going to fall over. I had planned to simply manifest myself outside of the Ring as a spirit as you have done previously, Bakura, but when I left the Ring, my body reformed. I'm not quite sure how it happened, but I think that the Millennium Ring actually managed to preserve my body after it faded in the Shadow Realm. It was quite the surprise.

"Anyway, as soon as one of the doctor's saw me, he marked it off immediately as your brother and took me to see you. I've never been so grateful that we looked alike before in my life. I was horribly worried, as I couldn't sense you when I was in the Ring, even with my powers. I managed to finally convince the doctors to let you wear the Ring, claiming that it was a religious family heirloom, in case any of them confront you about it. And then… I just waited."

"What do you mean you just waited?" Bakura asked.

Ryou looked hesitant. "Bakura… Yugi and the others brought you here two and half months ago."

Bakura's eyes widened. " _What?!_ "

Ryou nodded to assure the thief that it was true. "You were badly injured," he commented, tapping Bakura's stomach, where the wound had been. Bakura drew up his shirt lightly, revealed a heavily scarred section of his stomach. He paled and quickly covered his flesh, turning his attention back to Ryou. "At three different points, you actually stopped breathing." He closed his eyes, as though in pain, and Bakura actually felt the terror through the link. It was a prominent, drowning force. "The first was after they injected a particular type of medication into you. Your body had a bad reaction to it and you stopped breathing. That was only a few days after you were brought here. The second time was after a month. I was sitting here, and your heart simply stopped. It was… terrifying. The others had gone home to rest-"

"Only because you made us," Tristan argued.

"Yes," Ryou admitted, "but you desperately needed a bath, Tristan." Yugi giggled and Tristan huffed and looked away, mock-indignantly.

"They revived you quickly and things went back to the same routine, though there was a nurse that came in to check on you more frequently after that. I was worried they would make me leave, but I think Yami said something to them."

Yami coughed politely and looked away from Bakura's curious glance, opting not to reveal what he had said or done. The action assured that Yami had, however, said _something_ that had assured Ryou's continued presence in his room.

It didn't surprise Bakura all that much, considering how Yami had suffered through his own hikari's death. Still, however, he couldn't help but feel slightly stunned at the generosity.

"Thank you," he said quietly. Yami merely inclined his head in return.

There was silence for a while, before Bakura returned his attention to Ryou. "You said there were three times I stopped breathing?" he asked, genuinely curious. That had, after all, not happened to him before.

Ryou looked down, obviously dreading the memory. "Yes," he said weakly, after a moment. "That was… about three weeks after the second incident. I was here with Yugi and Joey and everything was fine, until your heart simply stopped."

Ryou bit his lip, reluctant to go on, unsure if his voice would hold. In response to his silence, Yugi picked up where he had faltered.

"The doctors came in and tried to resuscitate you, but nothing they tried seemed to be working. They were going to announce your time of death, but Ryou, well… possessed the doctor."

Bakura raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"I merely manipulated his mind," Ryou admitted. "It's not usually very difficult with your common-place, weak-minded people. Even those with an average-mind are easy enough to manipulate. The head doctor, however, has a pretty strong mind and I have to commend him on it. He was hard to control, but I managed to get him to continue trying to bring you back, and he finally did manage – just before he gathered enough strength to kick me out of his head. And that took a great deal of energy, so I fell unconscious again, though my soul stayed within my body this time."

"The doctors were all worried, though," Yugi commented. "You slept for three days straight."

Ryou smiled. "Yes, I'm sure that was a bit confusing, but not without its uses. During that time, my body was unconscious but my mind and soul were very prominently active, so I sent them searching through the link for your soul, Bakura. I figured if I could find it, I might have a chance to bring you back to the waking world. It was on the third day of my unconsciousness that I finally did manage to find you." He smiled wearily. "You were under the distinct impression that you deserved to go to Hell."

Bakura blinked in surprise. "So it _wasn't_ a dream!"

"It may have been one in part," Ryou commented. "Whether or not Anubis was real is beyond my grasp. I have no doubt that the scale represented your fate, however, and should you have failed its test, you would have died. The mind, after all, works in mysterious ways, and the soul indeed has the power to destroy itself if necessary. I was unable to reach you because of the scale, and not long after I found you, I woke up. I had hoped that I managed to carve a path back to consciousness with my being there, however."

"How long ago was that?" Bakura asked, frowning.

"About a month," Yugi supplied helpfully.

"Odd," Bakura commented, recognizing with momentary amusement that said word had been on his mind a lot lately. "It seemed like it had happened only seconds before I woke up."

No one understood enough about the workings of the comatose mind to comment on that, so silence reigned again for a time.

"So… what now?" Tristan asked after a while.

"Well," Ryou said, "I've essentially explained everything that happened, and it all seems to have resolved itself."

"So… you're whole again?" Yugi asked.

"Completely," Ryou stated proudly. "We won't have to worry anymore about the balance being out of whack. Bakura and I should easily be able to adjust to the scale tips. We've _been_ doing it since I got the Millennium Ring. Now, we'll simply be doing it as we should have been from the start."

"And you still have your powers, right?" Tristan asked.

"Always have, always will," Ryou assured him. "And I guess Yugi's got dark powers, too, now."

"What?" Bakura asked, confused. He turned to regard the blushing child.

"Well," Yugi commented, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, "Joey brought me and Mahaad back together, and when we left the Shadow Realm, we still _were_ together. He left then, but I guess I still have some of his powers."

"You can't fly, though," Tristan commented, sounding disappointed.

"That's okay," Yugi replied. "I'm afraid of heights, anyway."

They chuckled, and Tristan said, "well, maybe the both of you can help Joey, then."

"What's wrong with Joey?" Ryou asked, not having seen the blonde in a few days.

"Put me down, Tea!" a familiar voice echoed loudly through the hospital corridors. "Dis sucks! I hate hospitals! Why da hell did ya bring me here?!"

"Shut up, Joey!" Tea snapped, and then stepped through the doorway. Rather than standing at her side as he should have been, Joey Wheeler was held tightly in Tea's arms, an indignant, squirming golden retriever puppy.

" _Joey?!_ " Bakura and Ryou gasped simultaneously.

The puppy stopped squirming, regarding them both with wide, pleading chocolate brown orbs. "Guys, help me outta here, huh? I hate hospitals! Put me down, Tea!"

"Stop trying to run away, then!"

"Are ya kidding?! No way!"

Tristan turned back to Ryou. "This happened three days ago. We don't know how, but we're thinking maybe-"

"Kaiba!" Joey snarled. "Kaiba did it! He's always calling me "mutt" and "puppy!" I'm gonna kick his ass!"

Yugi shrugged. "I don't know, guys. This may be out of our league." He managed to hide his smile, though Joey probably wouldn't have noticed it beyond his indignant expression.

"You can't be dinkin' of leavin' me like dis!" he cried. "It's madness! I dun wanna be a dog!"

The others burst out laughing. "Don't worry, Joey," Yugi assured him. "We'll find a way to change you back."

"Yeah. Maybe you can _beg_ Kaiba with those cute puppy dog eyes."

"Watch it, Tristan!" Joey snarled. "I haven't had my Rabies shot yet!" He growled as ferociously as an adorable puppy can growl.

"Well, we can make an appointment at the vet to get that done, then," Ryou said smartly, grinning and hopping off of the bed. He reached out and scratched Joey's floppy ears, earning an annoyed look from the blonde.

"Yes, and while we're at it," Bakura added with a mock-malicious grin, reaching over and grabbing Ryou, pulling him back onto the bed and into a tight embrace, "let's see about getting him _fixed_."

" _WHAT?!_ " Joey screamed. "Guys, you can't be serious! Guys! GUYS?!"

The others ignored his tiny, ineffective growls and his futile looks of indignant malevolence in their direction. Tristan leaned against the wall, laughing. Yugi sat securely in Yami's lap, both of them sharing a knowing look, Yugi giggling, Yami chuckling softly. Tea clutched Joey in an attempt to keep him from running off, trying hard not to loosen her grip as she laughed heartily. Bakura held tightly to his hikari, swearing in his heart never to let the boy go, come darker halves, come Shadow demons, come Anubis with his glittering golden scale of judgment. He chuckled along with Ryou, and somehow, they all knew that everything was all right; they had lived through another harrowing adventure, secrets had been revealed, problems had been solved, and everything was back to normal.

Or as normal as things got in Domino.

_The End_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the first chaptered story that I'd ever finished and, despite the fact that I wrote it some years go and my skill as a writer has much improved since, I'm still very fond of it. I hope you enjoyed the story and I would love to hear what you think in a review. 
> 
> There is the possibility of a sequel in the future, following this and dealing with the events of Joey being turned into a dog. I'm not going to say it's a definite thing, since I have so many other projects in the works, but the potential is there. 
> 
> Thank you all for reading, for your reviews and your kudos and everything. 
> 
> Live long. Live well. Write. Read. Dream.


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